


Love could

by TFALokiwriter



Series: Magic and love [2]
Category: Lost in Space (TV 1965)
Genre: Andronica (Lost in Space), Fear, Friendship/Love, Future Fic, Gen, Guilt, Jupiter 2 (Lost in Space), Regret, Space Battles, War, preparing for war
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 24,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22929469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TFALokiwriter/pseuds/TFALokiwriter
Summary: What is love at it's core capable of? What is it capable of in the grand scheme of caring about others in the great length one or more goes for others and not themselves?
Series: Magic and love [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658275
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

"Heeeelp me!"

The cry drew the royal guards then they arrived to the center of the maze. A elderly man popped up to his feet as Zach was taken into the custody of his protectors. The elderly man used the maze as his support up to his feet.

"Who is this, your majesty?"

"Doctor Zachary Smith." Replied the identical man.

"Dear protectors, that is not King Zach!" Smith plead. "I am! Please, listen to me. He is Doctor Smith not I!"

"Lies," Zach said. "He is trying to take my name! A name I fought hard to make! _My_ name!"

"I am your king, believe me!" Smith said. "You didn't make for it, dear Zachary. I did."

"I _AM_ the king," Zach said. "Zach."

"No, _I_ am!" Smith insisted.

"You had you opportunity, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear Zach." Zach said. "You have arisen like a phoenix."

"No, dear Zachary, you have." Smith said.

Zach half smiled, out of pity, out of sorrow, out of envy.

"Time that you take the opportunity to live out your golden years the way that you so deserve." Zach said.

"Are you listening to this man?" Smith asked. "How can you believe that he is me? He isn't kind!" he was grabbed by the two arms by two royal guards. "Unhand me, dears! Please!"

"Like him thrown in the tower or in the smallest darkest dungeon under your chamber?"

Zach squinted at Smith who quickly looked aside, ashamed.

"No." Zach said. "I need you to hold on to him for awhile until you find his ship." He shook his hand. "Move him, if necessary, to a temporary and warm cell---"

"But majesty---"

"He is me. You need to treat yourself with respect, double or not," Zach said. "And he is quite . . . on the process of leaving this mortal coil so we have to treat him with respect that he deserves as a lifeform."

"Yes, your majesty,"

"Up until his people come searching for him." He turned toward the guards. "Remind me, why do I have a cruel and tiny cell for people?"

"It is for the most heinous crimes of all."

Zach looked down upon Smith in contempt.

"And he means heinous, dear Zachary." Smith said. "Coups for starters, the worst kind of manipulators, attempted assassinations, and traitors."

"And the cells are all over the castle." added the head royal guard.

Zach scowled, but sighed, lowering his gaze off Smith with a tinge of understanding on the difficult matter.

"Are there people in them?"

"A few, your majesty." The head royal guard said.

Zach cleared his throat.

"Are they any closer to expiring, dear friend?"

"Yes." was the reply.

"I need you to perform a mercy killing." His voice was calm but enraged. "Extract them from their tiny dungeon and give them a painless but quick death. Is that any clear?"

He was followed down the maze as Smith was taken away from the site.

"Yes, sir." was the answer.

"And which way is the exit?"

"This way, your majesty."

Zach held his head up and walked into the all but too certain future that laid before him.

* * *

Don's head ached. His mind went through a list of things that had happened before he had entered the sweet familiar darkness. His head was throbbing as he came to then he lifted himself to his feet as he went over the chain of events that brought him into this position. He returned to life lunging forward as his eyes widened with a flash of shock and a loud shout.

" **SMITH!** " Don shouted.

Craig regained consciousness alongside Don with a groan.

"Ow. . ." Craig said. "My head aches."

Don looked on toward the window of the ship.

"Where are we?" Don asked.

"There is so much greenery." Craig said. "Looks like a planet that hasn't been ravaged by war."

"That brings it down to a infinite number of planets." Don said.

"Uncle," Craig said. "Why was Z acting that way? He sounded so human."

"Because it was a human underneath that artificial skin." Don said. "It was Smith."

"But, that man is dead." Craig reminded.

"He should be." Don agreed. He got up from the chair then took out the hidden laser pistol then began to the spiral staircase. "He came back."

"How?" Craig asked following after his uncle. "That is impossible. Not as if uncle Will died and went to heaven then told him why he died!"

Don froze in his tracks then turned away from the spiral staircase with one hand on the bar turning toward Craig.

"What if he did?" Don asked. "That is the only reason in the world I can think of that would summon him back."

Don went down the stairs to the lower deck followed by Link then searched the rooms.

"Link? LINK! LINK!" Don called. "LIIINK!"

"Where in the world is Link when you need him?" Craig asked.

"Craig," Don started until he heard the sound of groaning from across. "Link!"

The men came over to the teenager's side and helped him up.

"Are you okay, little brother?" Craig asked.

"Ow," Link said. "Z stunned me. Nothing that I can't shake off."

Don turned toward the entrance of the craft then went down the steps to the Jupiter.

"HALT!" Came a cry. "Who goes there?"

"General Don West Robinson of the Jupiter 2." Don said. "Where are we?"

"Andronica." was the reply.

"Andronica?" Don furrowed his brows then his eyes lightened up and he brightened. "Could you take me to your leader?"

"We can take you to King Smith."

Don turned toward the young men.

"Link, Craig, I need you to stay here to man the ship." Don said. "And have the medical equipment out when I come back."

"Sure, General." Link said.

"Take a laser pistol," Craig returned with a laser pistol belt then handed it out to the general. "You don't know if those squids have agents here."

"I get the distinct feeling that we won't need those anytime soon on this planet, Craig." Don said. Don took the laser pistol belt from Craig's outstretched hand then smiled. "But, I will take it in case of a emergency that arises because of Zach's personal problems."

"If mom loses you and so does aunt Judy," Craig said. "They will be miserable, uncle."

"We don't need to be miserable for much longer." Don said wrapped the laser pistol belt around his waist then walked out of the Jupiter and descended down the stairway leaving them be.

Craig closed the door to the ship then ran to the auxiliary window watching the guards and Don walk away from the Jupiter 2 to the kingdom's limits.

* * *

The elevator car rolled down from the bridge to the expanded lower half of the ship. The upper half of the ship had been was the center of all the planning and strategizing. It was a battle ground bridge with glass windows that had battle plans and star charts with a sea of dots that represented the fleet of Jupiters in red ink. It was a mothership in all intents and purposes with several decks, corridors. The wide elevator car paused with a thump to the ground then the elevator barrier slipped open and the grim faced officer coming out. 

The officer wandered through the narrow corridor, one of many, then boarded up a set of stairs leading into a small class of Jupiters.

The officer sighed, lowering their head, then raised their head up coming toward a slightly ajar room that had women by the bedside of a red head.

"Doctor Robinson."

"I am she," Maureen turned toward the space corps officer.

"The Jupiter two million is gone." The space corps officer announced.

"Gone!" Penny stood up to her feet in a fit of horror.

Judy took Penny's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Gone, Lieutenant Colonel Maybel?" Maureen paled as she turned away from the younger man. "What do you mean by gone?"

"It went off course." Maybel replied. "We didn't get any hails from the Jupiter two million to the Jupiter 2."

"None?" Maureen asked, surprised.

"None." Maybel said.

"Anything else?" Maureen asked.

"We do have the coordinates in which they went that were taken before they went into hyperspace." Maybel said.

"The people in there were only Penny's sons, Don, Robot's shell, and Z-40." Maureen said. "The ship was clear from deck to deck. That ship was a leisure class and isn't to be away from the fleet for long. . ." She looked toward her resting son. "I need you to input the coordinates to the astronavigator. We are going to find out what is wrong. We will rejoin you at the next hide out."

"Aye, Doctor." Maybel said.

The space corps officer departed the Jupiter 2 then Maureen turned toward her children.

"Let's get unpacking."

The women eagerly then proceeded to empty the Jupiter 2 of the non-essentials for the first time in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get the distinct feeling after a little lagging time in getting ideas for this war fic against Smith's employer's that I was going to have a wait a long while so here you go.


	2. Chapter 2

After a few hours of walking, Don was directed through the area to the castle that stood tall and towering to his eyes once he went through the cozy city square. He looked around taking in the appearance of the entire castle surrounded by four walls and a unique way of entrance; it featured a tall threshold rising up to over ten feet tall lacking a fence, iron gate, or a moat to his surprise. It was the most generic kind of castle that Don had been fortunate to see even in space.

On each end of the castle were a tower that were equally kept under a shade with red fabric lined in gold thread. He was guided in through the doorway to the castle with one hand on his laser pistol feeling exceptionally terrified and cautious about his surrounding. There were replicas of knights by each side that were statues with swords held above his head--made of diamond--with the swords being made of metal compared to the material that were holding them.

He admired the decorative statues decorating the space that were once empty with potted plants, patio doors, and glass windows that were set open letting in the cool air of the outside. And the floor was made of numerous gemstones that stood out against the carpeting on the floor. It was as if Don were walking on a long bridge over a sea of lights. Most of the walls lacked the features beneath the carpeting; brown bricks so most of it were decorated in flags, blankets, and quilts in numerous designs not only the paintings.

Don came to a pause in his tracks looking on toward a painting featuring a familiar face, exactly the way that he had seen him before death, with a hand on a white at staring serenely back at Don. The portrait's face was a mask with his eyes that shown a tinge of regret and sorrow looking aside toward a part of the painting that was dark. It was fraught with skeletons in the background while in the open window across from showed the background of a bright kingdom. He moved along the way being guided to a rounded chamber where the path lead up to the king's bed chamber and the lower half went down to the dungeons.

"Tell the king that he has a visitor."

"Yes, sir."

The servant went up the stairs that were well furnished in a purple rug that it was hard to tell if it were rock or fabric. A few minutes later, the servant silent and docilely returned down the stairs with her hand in her lap in a hijab that made her face stand out.

"He will be with you shortly," the servant said with a bow of her head. "But, he like to know who you are."

"Don West Robinson of Earth." Don said. "I can wait."

"Don West? As in the pilot of the Jupiter 2?"

"Yes."

"Zach has relayed stories about you in great length in a positive light. I imagined you to be . . ."

"Younger."

"Yes."

Don smiled.

"He gets to talk about me as a old man to you starting today."

The servant nodded with a smile then somberly went up the stairs and returned with a smile.

"He will be here in a few moments."

Don tore his attention off the woman and watched as a shadow came down the stairs, minutes later, in a white night gown, coated by the same rope that he left his life only forty-two years ago, and large oversized pink slippers with artificial bunny ears. A familiar face that Don had watched age over the passing years as the technology for the artificial human became available and advanced that was once emotionless held a fond light in his eyes toward the general.

"Hello, dear, dear, dear major." Zach said. "I see that you have aged well."

"Hello, his majesty, the king." Don said. "And it's General of the armed defense space force."

"Whatever happened to the space corps?" Zach grew concerned craning his head forward with a head tilt.

"We still work with them." Don said.

"I heard you are experiencing some difficulties from the same man who tried to take the place that he fearfully rejected." Zach replied. "Something about a war?"

"Aeolusians." Don winced. "We have lost half of our population in large part to them."

"Chilling."

"We have been running for the last thirty years from them."

"Thirty . . ." His eyes flashed open and his eyebrows went up. " _years_?"

"Yes." Zach paled as if the blood in his face had drained from the clarification. "Going further. And further. And further away from home."

"What is your home?"

"Anywhere in space now."

"That is unfortunate."

"And hope has been getting distant lately." Don said. "They are closer to the fleet, closer than they have ever been, and we are sitting ducks." His hands rolled into fists. "We used our weapons fighting against them making sure that everyone went into hyper drive and escaped." Don grimaced looking aside then turned toward the older man. "We need help."

Zach nodded in agreement.

"Help that you rejected in the last beam out." Don glared.

"A mistake, dear General." Zach said. "I didn't realize how desperate you became until I saw Zachary come here and try to take my place."

"I see that he wounded you."

"Nothing to be rattled about."

"He rattled us, giving us a scare like that, stunning us, then bringing himself back here."

"Dead for forty years and back from the dead never leaves soothed shocked nerves." Zach said, then took a cup that was offered by his servant then sipped it, coolly, then put it on the tray and dismissed the servant with a small whisper of thanks and his aged hand shaken dismissively then turned his attention upon the general. "What help that you need; we shall provide."

The guards's eyes fixated on to their king, confused, shocked but not as surprised as Don who had a small tearful smile at the elderly man. Someone who he recognized and knew hiding under a persona. Someone who had gone the extra mile going deep into what he had rejected decades ago with the circumstances behind it. And Don felt a certain warmth spreading from his chest as the hope grew.

"It's _really_ good to see you, Zach." Don said.

"It's good to be back. . . around you," Zach said. "And I to you," he bowed his head toward the younger man. "Your dear friend is in the lower dungeons." he gestured toward the staircase. "How did he ever come back? Didn't he, as I heard, die in his valiant attempt to go home?"

"He did die," Don said. "He just took control of Will's replica and came back to help fix things that hadn't been . . ."

"Cleaned up."

"Yes, your majesty."

"Whoever arrives after you will be more than provided with sufficient answers regarding the small scuffle that happened here." Zach said with a wave of his hand. "Guards, bring him to his dear friend and free my dear Zachary into his custody."

"One more favor," Don said. "We can't exactly stay in one place for long out there."

"And?"

"You can."

"Uh huh."

"Can we stay a while and fix Robot?"

"You may, dear major." Don snickered and the older man was briefly flustered. Old habits died _hard_. "I will ensure that you are protected until you can depart."

"And we need ore."

"Our metal makers shall provide the ore to you."

"Thank you."

"In the mean time, I shall be gone for a few months starting tomorrow morning. I have to go. . . to certain places." Zach looked over, regretfully, toward the setting sun over the distance of the kingdom then put his hands on the ledge with a certain sourness. "Summon what allies that I can trust for this war effort. I have already made certain plans and procedures for my people. Sending the young, the culture, away, somewhere your enemies won't find them should we lose in the worst way possible."

Zach sighed.

"And instill a certain program that I thought was old."

"What program?"

"You know the program I was born from."

"Zach, that would be cruel to put those festivals back up."

Zach shook his hand.

"This time, to make a temporary majesty for the families." And Don eased by several levels down. "Carrying on business as usual."

Zach smiled in response lowering his hand.

"Before I announce the war goings, I need the people to believe they are going to do some colonizing." He looked toward the staircase leading down, ruefully, shaking his head. "And that it is in their best interest to fight against the final frontier without any help from the allies we have on Andronica." 

"And then, when you start war, they will be far away enough that no one will find them and suffer the consequences."

"Exactly." Zach nodded.

"That's a nice twist." Don said.

"And then. . ." He looked aside then grew defiant. "I am sure that he or she can find purpose of their life if the worst does not come to being." he turned toward Don with a tremble then clasped his hands into his lap. "I will make _sure_ they have a purpose."

"I am certain that you will." Don said. "I will see you. . ."

"In another lifetime." Zach said. "Or after the war."

"One of the two." Don said.

"Leave it to me, as Zach is here, and Zach takes care of his family." Zach said. "You can relax for a little while in my kingdom. Good night."

"Good night."

And Don watched the older man go up the stairs with the cloak lingering behind him then Don grinned.


	3. Chapter 3

Don was guided down the steps of the dungeon that grew darker and darker by each step as if it were made of coal instead of rock. There were few torches hooked into the curved corridor that were lit. The passageway to the dungeon was made of rock much as he could tell. He came to the last dungeon on the block finding the elderly man in Jupiter 2 uniform laid on a bed snoring away then nodded.

"That is him all right."

The dungeon cell was unlocked then two guards entered and slid the man out of bed.

"Oooof!" Smith was taken out of the cell. "What is the matter with bedside manners?"

Don was grinning as the elderly man was turned toward him once taken out of the cell.

"Oh dear." Smith faced the younger man. "Major."

"Call me by General." Don said.

"Ah, you climbed quite fast." Smith replied, his hands clasped in his lap with a cheerful mood. "Must have been quite the pip ceremony."

"It was." Don said, then his features darkened as his grin was replaced by a frown and a glare replaced the glee facing the older man. "Happened twenty years ago during the war."

The door behind Smith was closed then the older man grimaced looking toward the cell and turned toward the younger man.

"Twenty years." Smith said. "Must be very long."

"It is." Don nodded, locking his arm between the older man's left arm then proceeded to go. "Now, let's get going."

"I am not who you think I am." Smith said, resisting against the general's efforts.

"Sure, I do." Don said with a condescending smile looking down upon the shorter man. "You're the guy who could have helped us. But. . ." he shook his head. "You let go of the golden opportunity."

Smith stared back at the younger man as his face fell.

"So you know." Smith said. "And you're doing nothing about it? How insidious!"

"It is in my best interest that my family live to see another day." Don said. "How about you sit back and relax at the house?"

Tentatively, Smith followed Don up the stairs with small steps.

"Relaxing while war brews outside?" The elderly man stopped on the tenth step shaking his head then lowered it down toward the ground, playing with his fingers, disturbed and shaken by the thought closing his eyes. "I---I----I can't stand around and do nothing!"

"Welcome to my world." Don said as he unraveled his arm from around the older man's long and thin arm. "I can make you busy."

Smith's eyes flashed open then he turned his head toward Don.

"Oh, the horror." Smith said, looking up toward the ceiling as he whined. "The horror! I am a little too old to do these kinds of chores."

He put a hand on the older man's shoulder with a sympathetic grin.

"In fact. . ." Don said. "I got a few chores on my mind that you haven't done for the last forty-two years!" The older man grimaced at the younger man's comment. "And didn't you once say that doing manual work builds character, Zach?"

"You have faith that you will win." Smith replied. "And that was a long time ago."

"It's a gut feeling." Don said. "Not that long ago to you. You barely have lifted a finger for a long time."

"A little too much faith in him might I add." Smith asked then tilted his head and squinted his eyes at the general. "Why?"

"Because I happen to know that where he is going is a path of fire and difficult decisions," Don said. "But one that he is making for the benefit of others instead of _himself_."

The words were as sharp as a slap to the face as Smith lowered his gaze.

"We are not that too different." Smith admitted, softly.

"You never changed." Don said. "Different personality." he jabbed a finger into the man's chest. "Different moral compass. Good or bad. You're still the same man who put on that sacrifical crown."

Smith looked up toward the younger man.

"What can I do to make up for it?" Smith asked.

"Fixing Robot for starters." Don said.

"I will do my best to aid in the resuscitation." Smith said.

"I will make sure you're part of the Forgiveness Redemption Rehabilitation program once we meet up with the fleet." Don said. "And you have to apologize to Will as well."

Smith looked aside, regretful, sorrowfully.

"I know, I know I will." Smith said.

"Come on." Don beckoned the older man up. "You have a lot to make up for."

"I do. . . I do." Smith agreed then followed the younger man up the stairs with his hands in his lap.

"Not just Will," Don said.

"Who else?" Smith asked.

"You have to apologize to the rest of the family as well." Don said.

"Did the professor die because of it?" Smith asked, concerned.

"Last year." Don said. "It hurt Maureen the most of all of us."

"Deeply sorry for the loss." Smith replied. "Wish it could have been prevented."

"It could have been." Don snapped. "But, you didn't."

"I can't go back in time and correct that error much as I like to." Smith said. "There are certain consequences I couldn't do."

"Penny, importantly." Don continued. "She lost her husband a year ago during the most severe attacks. That was the moment where what was left of our fleet and your fleet could have sent them running away with their tails between their legs and left us _alone_."

His glare was lethal, now, full of rage that hadn't been quite expressed. Rage with strength that he didn't have the care in the world to lash out. His glare was the one thing that hurt the elderly man the most. The dismay, distress, and bitterness of it all was the most apparent part of hurt that he had allowed to happen on his watch. And it hurt the elderly man just as it hurt the younger man.

Smith sighed, momentarily lowering his head, then lifted his head up.

"Are you going to tell them or do I have to tell them about the switch?"

Don came to the last step then turned in the direction of the elderly man with a darkened look.

"You may have put on a crown and a cloak then exited our lives." Don said. "But, you never stopped _being_ Doctor Smith."

"For all intents and purposes, there was never a switch." Smith said. "Then what did happen?"

"A situation where you tried to coerce yourself into helping us." Don said.

The servant from earlier arrived back just as the men were about to leave.

"The king insists you take a carriage back."

Don nodded, somberly, but inwardly had a fond grin. _Course, he did._

"We will take it." Don replied. "This way, your _majesty_." Don grabbed the elderly man by the arm with a mocking tone.


	4. Chapter 4

Smith watched the surroundings of what had once been a place that he called a home vanish around him until it were only a green filled surroundings. He was the first to exit the carriage then descend the stairs that had automatically fallen down. He looked toward the saucer with widened eyes and noticed how small it looked in comparison to how that he had seen it forty years ago.

Then, Smith was gently guided up the stairs by the general. Smith came to a pause at the door then pressed the button on the side as his hand was trembling. The door opened--A young man with some resemblance to the professor appeared. The younger man smiled then stepped aside and allowed the quite elderly man in.

"You feeling better, Z?" Craig asked.

"My name is Zach."

"No, it's Doctor Smith." Don said.

"It's Zach." Smith insisted.

"Little insane up in there from falling out of heaven, Craig." Then Don twirled his finger alongside his temple.

"I have heard a lot about you, Doctor Smith." Craig held his hand out then Smith shook his hand.

"I assume you heard the least flattering tales." Smith said.

"Uncle Don told me what I needed the most." Craig grinned. "So you're from before the war. What was it like not having to run away?"

"We did have our fair share of running." Smith said.

"Trekking the stars for Alpha Centauri doesn't count, Smith." Don interjected, sharply.

"I mean to refer to when some trouble that we stirred from place to place." Smith said, casually. "The ones that some of the time you and the Robinsons happened to make on your own."

"Well, that was different." Don said.

"Not different?" Smith folded his arms. "My dear Major, you are going senile. It was exactly like this situation."

"Compared to this; we weren't being chased to extinction, Smith." Don said.

"Alright, there is some differences." Smith relented as Don closed the door to the ship.

"Time to hit the hay." Don said.

"Which one is my cabin?" Smith asked.

"I was thinking the lab." Don said.

Smith's eyes flashed open.

"But, my dear major, that is elder abuse. I won't sleep in that room with how bad my back is." Smith rubbed at his back as he referred to it. "Woe is me. Woe is me."

Don smiled, chuckling, as did Craig and Link looking on toward the short elderly man.

"Least I know you are not going senile." Don said. "Link, how about you pick out his room?"

"Sure, General." Link said. "Doctor Smith, it's right over there."

Smith's attention shifted toward the last cabin that was closed then walked toward it and slid it open.

"Much better accommodations!" Smith announced.

Don laughed then went to his cabin as did the younger members of the family. One by one, the parts of the ship turned to darkness save for the galley that held the parts of Robot. Smith approached the machine then surveyed the damage and the scattered parts strewn around the once well put together machine. Smith cradled his hand rubbing his thumb along his knuckle then sat down in to his seat. 

Smith slid the bubble head on to the counter then looked upon it. Carefully, he took the tools and began putting the machine together with certain ease over a well tuned memory without needing to rely on text. It took around two hours to put him back together regarding screwing parts, dismissing old parts that no longer worked and alien parts that made his eyes boggle at it with little idea of what their purpose were once. He had to put aside some of the damaged components that regarded mobility, advanced sensors, and the defense system (for inside and outside). 

Smith returned to the power unit then took it off and walked back to the machine.

Smith placed it alongside the damaged and burned chassis then waited.

He watched with anticipation as the helm lifted and the arms were yanked in then grinned. 

"Why hello there, my dear Robot." Smith patted on Robot's chassis. 

"Da-da-d-da--d-daamaaage report."

"Severe, but I can fix that for you in time." Smith replied. 

"Identify yourself." Robot said. "Yo-y-y-y-y-y-you sound like Z-40 but are not."

"You used to call me Zach until I left on my own accord." Smith replied.

"D-d-d--d-d-d-daddy Zach!" The helm twirled. "Sst-t-st-st-st-st-state your purpose."

"I have no purpose here, ninny." Smith gently scolded him. "My purpose is to be aside while our dear Zachary is taking care of the war."

Robot bobbed his helm up.

"S-s-s-s-s-switched places!" Robot exclaimed, the blades with orange lights swirled within the glass helm with a twirl. His voice sounded as if it were coming from a radio that was not working right. His voice sounded a bit distant, a problem with the voice synthesizer -- Smith assumed -- that meant it had to be replaced. "Warning! Warning!" Smith watched as the antenna sensors twirled as he started to sport a small smile seeing them _move_ again. "Peace treaties never end well!"

Smith sighed, lowering his gaze to the side, then looked up toward Robot.

"He knows that and accepts the cost." Smith said. "I couldn't."

Robot's helm bobbed down.

"My dear old friend, can you hear me?" Smith put his hand on Robot's chassis. 

The helm twirled.

"A-a-a-a-a-af----affirmative." Robot said.

"Anything else you like to say?" Smith asked.

"T-t-t-traitor." Robot replied. 

"Traitor is a strong word, Robot." Smith said. 

"Tt-t-t-traitor." Robot stuttered. 

"You see that I turned my back to the Robinsons when you needed me the most." Smith said.

"Af---aff---affirmative." Robot replied.

Smith withdrew his hand from the shoulder of Robot's chassis. 

"Nothing I say can make what you feel about my part in the unfortunate loss of life go away. Let me make up for that." Smith said. "Let me try."

"Un---unforgivable."

"Do you wish to hear how he came back?"

"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-t-tell."

"Will died, went to heaven as a child, met up with Zachary, and they returned to the land of the living together. . that I am sure of."

Robot brewed with rage.

"Off." Robot said, clearly, without a stutter.

Smith took the energy pack off then watched as the machine became still.

"I know how angry you are, my dear old friend." Smith said. "And it pains me to be on the other end of the stick."

Smith briefly closed his eyes shaking his head. With a sigh, he opened his eyes then proceeded to take the machine apart in a matter of moments leaving the intact parts on one side of the table with the damaged parts left on the other side of the long wooden table furnished with gold at the edges.

He traced his fingers along the padding of the chair, mournfully, clenching the edge of the seat. He had all the memories of his counterpart leading up to being put into two people. But, the experience of lingering around the Robinsons was a pleasurable memory that he missed every time outside of the time loops as someone not involved. A memory that he was starting to forget how real it used to be and how possible it had been to have those kind of people around him.

He tried to imagine good memories being made here but with the war going on and the atmosphere not being what it was meant to be. Instead, it became what it was meant to be with his lack of participation in making sure it was that way. His actions meant that it was prime time the Robinsons had a desperate, tense, uncertain, and frightened atmosphere one in which they were walking on egg shells.

 _Now_ , he wasn't in the position to make any further bystander actions that worsened the state of their lives.

 _Now_ , he only had regret and sorrow for what happened seeing the ruins of disaster becoming illuminated.

Smith put the energy pack back where he found it then went toward the doorway to the cabin.

"I am sorry, my dear old friend."

Smith turned around to face Robot quite apologetically.

"Oh, the pain. . ." Smith said, sorrowfully, softly in pity toward Robot. "The pain."

He could imagine the anger and pain the environmental machine was in.

Trouble was, Smith _was_ experiencing the same feelings regarding his part in the near complete tragedy.

Smith turned away then pressed a button -- turning the galley lights off-- and walked in to the cabin closing the door behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

After several hours, the Jupiter 2 jumped into warp then fell into the orbit of Andronica. Maureen piloted the ship down through the atmosphere of the planet. It was Judy who searched for the sign of the Jupiter as they flew over the layer of the dark sky of the planet with the lower head lights swaying from side to side over the city limits. It was silent on the bridge of the Jupiter 2 with Penny standing between them.

They tore through the air going over the calm and sleepy landscape beneath them. It used to be strange and odd for the women to be aboard a craft that had little turbulence as the scenery changed around them but it had lost its awe and surreal nature from running planet to planet in hopes of sanctuary. And using the natural Judy stood up to her feet and cried then Maureen was the first to park the Jupiter 2 close by to the darkened ship. The Jupiter 2 descended down six feet away from the Jupiter two million on her landing legs.

Judy, well aged as she was, still had the energy that she had when the mission had began almost forty years ago of colonizing. She bolted for the corridor then rushed down the side of the Jupiter 2 then came out of the doorway into the residential deck with Maureen following after her. Penny was beside her mother as they went down the steps to the Jupiter 2 making a rush for the Jupiter 2 million across from them.

Maureen knocked a score of three until the door opened. 

"Don, are you okay?"

"Never been better." Don stepped aside. "Come in, honey. We have a lot to tell you."

The family stepped into the luxury class as Don beckoned them in and Link came out of the bathroom then greeted his family into a series of hugs and smiles. They relaxed, losing their tension, all about the regarding of what had lead them here. Maureen's warm demeanor faded then shifted her attention toward the general with a tinge of curiosity.

"General, what happened up on the bridge?" Maureen asked.

"We had a little bit of a incident," Don said. "It was very unexpected."

"So much so that we couldn't react." Craig continued.

"It wasn't a spy or anything we have encountered." Don said. "It came from within the ship."

"One of you?" Maureen scanned the men, studying them, cautiously.

"No, grandmother." Craig shook his hand with a laugh and a hand on his waist. "Not one of us men."

"We weren't very attentive to where our eyes should be given the circumstance that we had downstairs. It was just too ugly to wait around in while the autopilot did the piloting." The men looked toward the table where Robot was scattered all over as did the women who's features fell with sorrow and dismay at their old friend. "We should have been downstairs then we wouldn't have been taken to Andronica."

"Andronica. . ." Maureen repeated. "That name sounds very familiar."

"How was the operation?" Don changed the subject abruptly as Maureen became distant -- embedded in a long ago memory -- then the older woman began to smile, fondly.

"It wasn't as easy as the doctors thought it would go." Penny replied as the door to another cabin opened then a familiar figure walked out in a dark burgundy, green, and purple uniform. "We almost lost him forever."

"But, he made it." Maureen said. "You can see for yourself in the Jupiter 2."

"You brought a patient here?" Don asked, incredulously.

"I did." Maureen confirmed.

"Can I see him, grandmother?" Link asked.

"You may, Link." Maureen said.

"Maureen, leader of the search for home and all, isn't it best that he is left to recover among civilization?" Don asked as Link made a run for it out of the doorway and pressed the button to the door close on his way out. "Will _is_ the third in line in command if something happens to you and Judy."

"It's better than leaving him to be killed during a surprise attack," Maureen said. "The last time that I made a decision like that: we lost . . ."

"We lost Joshua." Don finished.

"Grandmother, sometimes we make poor decisions." Craig replied. "Isn't war supposed to be full of hope and risk taking? Not hoarding people."

"Hoarding people." Maureen started to laugh. "Hoarding people?" She came to a pause, shaking her head, appearing genuinely amused by the comment then looked toward the dead set serious Craig in concern. "When have I have ever hoarded people?"

"You do that as a coping mechanism once you lose someone, madame." came a lone voice. "Trying to protect what you have left."

Everyone's attention shifted toward Smith as he closed the door to the bathroom behind him.

"Z is back on his feet, again." Penny marveled at the elderly man then smiled.

"That is not Z." Maureen said as she looked at the synthetic but aged blue eyes.

"Not?" Penny asked, quizzically.

"I remember that light in anyone's eyes." Maureen said. "That is a real soul, Penny." She approached the older man, slowly, taking one step at a time until she were standing two feet away from him. "Only one soul in my entire life has eyes like those."

"Eyes like what, madame?" Smith asked.

"A natural curious explorer of the unknown and desperate to get out of it to a more natural, civilized, peaceful way of life." Maureen said. "Someone like you, Doctor Smith."

"Good morning, madame." Smith said. "You have aged well."

"You haven't changed that much." Maureen said.

"Don't be flattering." Smith said. "I have aged _terribly_ these last few years." 

"You have aged well." Judy protested. "Compared to some people I know; you could have gone bald."

"My dear Judith, my head and baldness don't agree with each other." Smith said. "Someone like Doctor Smith doesn't easily go bald!"

Penny and Judy smiled then crashed into a hug with him. It was instant and unstoppable that it took the wind out of him. Their short arms were wrapped around his figure keeping him falling back as they laughed, concealing him between them, tearful. Smith smelled their familiar choice of perfumes and soaked in the scent that had became all but a memory. The memory came back to life with all its touches, glory, and warmth that felt like them.

His heart ached more than it had before in the moment with them. The kind of ache that he had all but forgotten when making sure that he faced the future and the social group that he made by hand on Andronica. His mind jumped to the parliament, the guards, the servants, the first ones to deal with his counterpart's determination in whatever manner possible to start a war. They were going to be blind sided and very confused with his sudden change of mind.

His mind returned to the the present that was soothing over the heart ache of not seeing them for so long. Smith smiled, reciprocating the hug, closing his eyes. Certain feelings of old heartbreak was mended and warmth that he hadn't felt for a long time started spreading from his heart. He clenched on to their uniforms experiencing how solid that they were to his finger tips. Just how real they were.

Just how real enough to tell him that they were here and had no intention of leaving _without_ him. It was all quite touching to Smith. He had left to save them forty years ago and they had left without him returning on the long journey to Alpha Centauri with his counterpart but they welcomed him in a embrace that Smith felt he didn't quite deserve. Something that was deserved for the Smith with the negative qualities and the good qualities that made him the even more elaborate than he was. Someone with a free will to decide to do good or bad regarding matters such as the war that was more fantasy and dream like only hours ago but were become real. 

It had became even more real hearing, seeing, and feeling them. Just how real that Smith had allowed the Robinsons to become a number for so long to him with no name, nor meaning to him, not a sight of them, only being told as a estimate of how many Earthlings remained by the attacks and how he had assumed were slain as part of the report by the scouts. His very actions brought them to his doorstep to remind him that they were people that he cared about dearly (at one point in his life) and how Smith had neglected to aid them. And for a certain reason that left Smith felt certain guilty over; he was _happy_ about being in this position with them. His grip on their uniform loosened within moments hearing the girls chime at once, "We missed you, Doctor Smith."

It was Penny who stepped back from the hug, first, then Judy was the second to back off as they sported delighted smiles.

"Time hasn't been kind to me, Doctor Robinson." He held his index finger up with his attention facing the younger woman who's once red hair had became a shade of rosy-blonde. "But you, madame . . . it's letting you age wonderfully." he approached the younger woman with a fond but small and weathered smile coming to a pause by her side. "You look even more magnificent than how we had last seen each other."

"Last time that we had seen each other. . ." Maureen said. "We didn't part the way that we should have."

Smith sighed, momentarily, closing his eyes quite regretful on the matter that had been cause to certain separation. His eyes fluttered open with guilt then shifted his attention with regret on to the matriarch, sorrowfully, for years that he had stolen from her. Even for all the opportunities that were supposed to be spent happily and peacefully on Alpha Centauri. Then the sorrow faded with a nod from Smith's demeanor.

"It has taken me some time to reconcile over being hoisted my own petard." Smith said. "But, it is in the past."

"How?" Judy asked as she and Penny joined the older man's side. "How did you come back?"

"Yes, Doctor Smith." Maureen lifted a brow. "How?"

"It's all connected to the incident with Will." Don said. "You will have to sit down for this."

Don gestured toward the table and the women went toward the seats as they were beckoned to as did the men.


	6. Chapter 6

Will came to in his bed then shifted himself up with a ache in his chest. He shook his head clenching on to his uniform then let out a heavy sigh lowering his head. The betrayal still lingered in his heart as a ache. A ache that matched the pain coming from the scar on his chest made by someone that he called friend. This scarring wasn't going to go away so easily.

He lifted himself out of bed then slid his feet out and looked on spotting a new set of uniform waiting for him. He put on the burgundy, green, and yellow uniform after discarding the recovery gray uniform chucking it to the side. He put on his boots then came out the doorway and exited the Jupiter 2 taking along a walking stick as his support.

He came out of the Jupiter 2 then paused in his tracks and closed his eyes breathing in the fresh new air after weeks of traveling in space. He looked up spotting the rising sun in the distance. It had been a long time since he had seen the sun set. It felt as if it had been a complete eternity. He looked on spotting a commoner looking on toward the Jupiters. He began to make his way toward them, slowly, then held his hands up and shook them. He lowered his hand down and approached the commoner.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"I see you got some metal ore."

"His Majesty King Zach has ordered for some to be brought here."

Will looked toward the strange horse that reminded him of one used at a carnival.

"Nice ride." Will said. "What are they?" Will looked in awe at the toy that blinked then remained open and the ears twitch. "I haven't seen that kind of horse since I was thirteen."

"These?" The commoner gestured toward the horse. "This is a solar powered horse unit with artificial intelligence." The commoner patted on the side of the horse. "These units are all over the galaxy."

"I don't recall seeing them where I have been." Will said.

"Mostly used in civilization." The commoner said. "Is this the Jupiter 2 landing area?"

"Yes, sir." Will said. "Right up there." Will pointed toward the ship with his thumb right over his shoulder. "They are waiting for the shipment."

"Which ship?"

"The smaller one." Will replied.

The commoner looked across from Will then their gaze settled.

"Thank you very much."

"Sir, I have a question." Will stopped the commoner in their tracks holding his hand up. "Can I use your horse for a ride to the kingdom?"

"Oh, sure." The commoner said. "Just smack them at the butt once you are done with them. They will return to the landing site very quickly with that order."

"Uncle Will!" Link bolted over to Will's side as the commoner walked on toward the Jupiter 2 million. "Are you okay?"

"I am feeling a little achey." Will put a hand on Link's shoulder. "Link, I am going to meet up with a old friend. . ."

"We have never been here before." Link replied as Will unlatched the ore from the support beam and set it down beneath it. "And this planet has greenery so the family hasn't been here before."

"Remember the story about Andronica?" Will looked up toward the fifteen year old.

"I remember that." Link confirmed as he folded his arms.

"We are there." Will said.

Link slightly tilted his head, skeptically, looking down upon Will.

"Can I go meet the king with you?" Link asked as the older man used the cart as his support up and steadied himself using the walking stick.

"The king is aboard the ship." Will said.

"Z is not a king, Uncle Will." Link said with a scowl. "I am not a kid anymore. That kind of stuff is silly and absurd." Will rolled his eyes at the comment from the younger Robinson. "Kings don't exist in space!"

Will laughed, fondly, as he looked toward the ship with a smile then came to the side of the horse.

"Then do you want to see one?" Will asked. "Someone pretending to be a king in action?"

"I will believe it when I see it." Link nodded. "Us and those squids are the only lifeforms in this galaxy--if there were anymore capable of warp drive then they would have been involved in the war in the beginning."

"Then come with me." Will said climbed board the horse and held a hand out for Link. "And meet Doctor Smith."

"You and the general think the same thing." Link took the older Robinson's hand and was lifted up on to the horse. "Why is it that?" 

"I'll explain on the way." Will said then patted on the side of the neck of the horse. "Go!"

The horse flew on toward the kingdom as Will looked on spotting the distant castle that was a blurred figure to his eyes and grinned. Then, he proceeded to explain hat had happened earlier to the boy. He couldn't see the boy's reaction but Will knew him well enough to know that he was shocked at first then grinned and laughed with certain glee. Will grasped on to the harness of the horse as it zoomed on toward the kingdom limits.


	7. Chapter 7

His royal chief of space core, General Abstain, was seated at the long table with members of each core group that was part of the effort scattered about around the place with their hands on the table in a fist or tapped lightly on the surface of the table. Each head of the agency were waiting patiently and uncertain regarding the sudden meeting early in the morning. There was a title card on the table in front of them with their rank and position.

They looked from member to member searching for a answer only to find they were clueless like them and it was strange to see the royal head of planetary defense among them and the head of the planetary institution of science among them. It was nearly silent in the room if not for people biting their fingernails, tapping the floor, humming, and whistling. The tension in the room was palpable. 

The door to the chamber opened then they stood up and watched the king come in to the room appearing grave but calm in a eerie manner. They bowed, politely, over Zach's reluctance. He came to a pause at the chair that was set out in front of him then seated into it. And the tension with his presence evaporated but certain confusion and concern went up in the air as they noted of the wounds on his face.

"General Abstain," Zach said.

"Your majesty." Abstain replied.

"I have taken great interest in the royal space core and found some . . . unfortunate information."

Abstain leaned back into the chair with a grin.

"It has been delayed with the many cuts that you put in to fund the medicine program." Abstain flipped his hand over and shook it.

"I checked the funds and see that you have enough to make ships for colonization." Zach said over Abstain's smirk.

"That we do, your majesty." Abstain replied. "But, we don't need to make a factory run of them."

Zach was already annoyed of the reply. The sheer arrogance coming from the Andronican was grating at his nerves and threatened to make him snap after years of going through years of seeing that kind of arrogance from the aliens that threatened the Robinsons or himself for that matter. He inwardly grimaced at the reply. Zach turned his attention upon the man alongside him.

"General Valorie, how is the space force?"

"Well, it's been the same as it has been for the last thirteen years." Valorie smirked. "Stuck as paperwork and analyzing data for incoming asteroids."

"And have you made any asteroid handlers?"

"No, your majesty." Valorie shook his head. "We don't need any."

"Funding problems?"

"No, your majesty. We have all the funding that we need to do that emergency construction."

"But you see it as a waste of time making it." Zach scanned the men and women. "Including your positions."

One by one members of the staff nodded and Zach was silent as it became quite clear of the arrogance of the Andronicans.

"Your majesty, I don't seem to understand." Abstain said. "Why do you have the head of colonization health, the head of colonization security, the head of colonization agriculture, the head of emergency colonization adrift in space with us? Doctors, security chiefs, worse case scenario analyst planners---what kind of emergency meeting are you leading?"

"I am going to start a war with the Aeolians and end the genocide of the Earthling race." Zach replied.

The silence lingered in the air.  


"But, it's not our problem." Valorie said.  


"It's not our problem. . . Not our problem. . ." Zach repeated, keeping a grip over himself, but his anger showed as he gripped the arm rest of the chair looking aside as the words echoed. "Not our problem."

"Yes, your majesty." Abstain replied. "It's the Earthlings problem."

His gaze lifted toward.

"It's not our problem cried the Americans of Earth as children were gathered up with their family and put into carts then taken into a forest because of their religion, shot down using machine guns, as children were thrown into holes then they were pelted with rocks to death, as children were put into rooms then gassed together naked -- terrified, frightened, and scared and ashamed --- and their vessels thrown into ditches and buried without a marker. It's not our problem, the Americans said, as Hitler's army marched from nation to nation conquering them."

Their faces paled listening to the recounting of the Holocaust.

"It's not our problem, the Americans said, as detention centers became sites of torture and worked people to death. As these detention centers became called Concentration Camps." And each time he repeated, 'It's not our problem', the officials shrunk as dread filled the air. "It's not our problem, they said, as babies were thrown into the ditch and buried alive after their mothers delivered them in cattle cars on the way to sites such as Auschwitz."

His words grew sharper, bitter, but in a calm way that drew our horror and shame upon the heads of agencies.

"It's not our problem, the Americans said, as Germany began making its way to them." His blue aged synthetic eyes laid upon the members, one by one, repeating their words after them. "It's not our problem, the Americans said, upon rumors of Pearl Harbor was to be attacked. It's not our problem, the Americans said, until Pearl Harbor was attacked."

Zach became quiet as the belly twisting feeling was settling upon the members of the staff.

"It's not our problem, civilizations cried, when a pandemic was being born and feasting on one select part of the world. It's not our problem, as the pandemic spread to another nation and killed thousands."

One by one they grew uncomfortable.

"It's not our problem, they cried, again, and again, as the virus swept through the world killing hundreds. They laid themselves bare on the beach in clusters. They said, we didn't know, upon being infected. They denied that there was a problem until it came right up to them."

"But, that was one planet's problem." Valorie said.

Zach ignored the interruption.

"It's not our problem, the most unifying comment that echoed from state to state when the pandemic arrived in the east coast and slowly spread. It's not our problem, the rural, the suburbs, the cities, all of whom cried this phrase as the deceased began to climb up the double digits eight days in to a major city." Zach shot a glare toward Valorie. "It could happen here with the wrong leadership in charge."

Zach's hands rolled up into fists.

"It's not our problem, they said, performing premeditated murder. They did this by joining crowds when the virus was there and carried it to the vulnerable, to their loved ones, and there wasn't enough ventilators to save them all." The anger was radiating off the elderly man. "It's not our problem, they said on their death bed."

Zach shook his head in disgust then closed his eyes.

"It's not our problem, they said, as they stood by the side of their loved ones dying because of them on the hospital bed. It's not our problem they said as they streamed the funeral for the family. It's not our problem, they said, as they tossed the ashes into the wind." His aged synthetic eyes opened facing the group. "It's not our problem."

Zach stared them down.

"It will be our problem and it _is_ our problem, my dears." Zach finished. "Because once they start, they turn their attention to someone else and the whole trouble restarts."

"They wouldn't be that mad, your majesty, to do such a feat." Valorie said.

"They said that about Hitler and millions of people died because of his hate, General Valorie." Zach said. "Except, unlike Hitler, these creatures will give us the dignity in death and time to start a fight or to run away until they could kill us with their army without dignity. Unarmed, out of ammo, and helpless."

"They are not our friend." Valorie said. "No home planet, no warp drive, just living nomadic existences."

The elderly synthetic being scanned, sighing sadly, the members of the staff.

"I will not lie when I say that I am very afraid for Andronicans." Zach admitted, ashamed, sorrowfully, shaking his head. "I am very disappointed in you taking your positions lightly."

"We have taken our seriously, your majesty." Abstain protested. 

"Yes, we have!" Valorie chimed.

Zach smacked his palm against the table, loudly, enraged, furious, causing everyone to jump in their seats.

"Don't lie to your king, Generals." Zach said, his voice carrying the rage that could have been mistook him for preparing to shout. It was the calmest of fury keeping his eyes on them. "You haven't been taken this program seriously as you should." Then he shook his hand with his elbow on the counter. "I will not remove you or relegate you to different roles. I expect you to be take your roles, however insignificant they appear to be, with some kind of dignity and honor behind it because everything comes in handy in different crisis."

"What do you need us to do?" Valorie asked.

"Begin the construction of ship for war of every kind." Zach said.

"Yes, your majesty." Valorie nodded, grimly. 

"What about the royal space core?" Abstain asked. 

"Prepare the construction of three million colony ships." Zach said. "If you can make five hundred thousand in three months then that would be good."

"Best case scenario, your majesty, we would be able to make a thousand in three months." Abstain said. "We would need every able man and woman working on the colony ships to make the quota of three million in three years."

"Do what you can." Zach said. "That is all I ask and need of each of every one you." he held his hand up from the table. "Everyone else, I need you to account for the vulnerable and work with the workers for each colony class that need to be specified for the construction." He lowered his hand down to the table. "The people require the cooperation of everyone in this room."

"Yes, your majesty." was the combined reply of the staff.

"What changed, your majesty?" Valorie asked.

"My relative, Zachary Smith, attacked me and tried to change places with me." Zach referred to his facial wounds with a gesture. "The wounds are not severe."

"Thankfully, he did not injure severely." Valorie said.

"That, indeed." Zach said. "I have brought the planetary field of science and all of you for one reason alone."

"What reason is that?" Vabam, the leading scientist, asked.

"To lie to the people regarding the colonizing program rushing into existence."

"We have been wanting to colonize another planet for some time." Morker, the head of health, replied. "There is already a colony being worked on by the private company ScienceP that you authorized the creation of ten years ago."

"Where are they intending to colonize?" Zach asked.

"The nearest water planet." Vabam said. "Bah-zun-tum."

"I recommend against a planet of water without land to colonize." Vabam said. "Underwater hubs carry the risk of rusting away and having a major leakage that we may never be able to properly repair and flood the entire city."

Zach typed on a typewriter then handed it one of the servants.

"I feel that these coordinates are the best place to colonize." The servant came over then handed it over to Vabam over Zach's reply. "Remote, very unknown, and extremely deep in space."

Vabam handed it over to the next members of the staff as they took a glance at the paper then their eyes widened.

"Your majesty, where did you get these coordinates?" Vabam asked.

"My relative and I share the same memories of a time loop." Zach elaborated. "We were once taken there in a gold android body called Raddion." He looked aside then shook a disturbing memory off his mind. "No," He briefly closed his eyes shaking his head. "We went there on our free will."

"Why?" Valorie asked. "You have talked about the Robinsons in great length. They were welcoming for any kind of person who approached them."

"We were discarded and . . . our body was used for Radion. We hung on to the computer systems until Raddion became available then we moved in." Zach elaborated as the skin of the Andronicans paled. "We returned to the campsite then passed out. The following morning, we returned to the Jupiter 2 and they attacked us." He grimaced at the unpleasant memory. "We ran away."

And it was odd to hear the king sound ashamed of himself.

"From there, we were met up by Penny then Will met up with me a few days later." The elderly man smiled back at the memory that flashed across his mind at the sweet memories that crossed his mind. "The Robot met up with me and the night after Will met up with me and discovered that we were who we said we were." He grinned at the memory that shined the most. "He left with the promise that he would tell them and get me back to my mortal shell."

He grin became replaced by a pout.

"Penny didn't visit me as she did the following morning as she did days prior with Will." Zach relayed then grew troubled at his tale. "It was odd. I should have been alarmed, but I wasn't. I was afraid. The then-major and the professor joined with laser pistols the following afternoon." Zach went over the chain of events. "They startled us so the laser rifle that we found had to be used."

His tone carried regret how that turned out.

"We had a nasty firefight and had to leave. We had little choice of defusing that problem then took the most recent abandoned craft by a new visitor and fled. Then the galactic tribunal chased after us so we used hyper drive. After we crash landed, we found out where Robot had been this entire time and Penny. She was fine. But we were on that planet for quite awhile before we restarted the time loop."

"Is this part of the loop?" Vabam asked.

"It is not." Zach replied. "I can only wonder how the Doctor Smith reacted upon discovering that he was very lost in space."

Zach started to chuckle then snicker then laughed as he leaned back into the chair and eventually the staff laughed as well easing the dark mood in the room.

"So, is that not your problem." Valorie was the first to stop laughing.

Zach's mood soured and darkened before the staff's eyes.

"It is my problem because he will leave and I will be born again with the pain of leaving the Robinsons quite lost with a stranger in two years." Zach said. "And I have faith that Raddion problem was solved by other parties."

"How many times did he leave the Robinsons in dire problems?" Abstain replied.

"Not many times." Zach said.

"At least there is some silver lining." Morker replied then Zach nodded in agreement.

Zach stood up to his feet with his hands on the table.

"I expect you to have announced this program upon my return and coordinate with each other regarding the building blocks of the colonization program."

"Your majesty?" The staff asked at once.

"I have some building blocks of the war to start." The servant slid the chair in as he started to walk away. "Significant blocks to aid this upcoming war and any battle that ensues."

"What is your intention?" Valorie asked.

Zach turned away from the door then grinned facing the officials.

"One voice hasn't gone quietly into the night. It is a powerful voice. And it's strong. And it will go out screaming." Zach replied. "That scream will be mine. I will be then one declaring on the battlefield: _Earth is not yours to keep_."

Zach turned away then walked on leaving the crowd in silence as he grinned, confident, broadly.


	8. Chapter 8

"And is that it?" Maureen asked.

Maureen's eyes were fixated on the elderly doctor.

"Yes, madame." Smith replied. "I never imagined having to be fetched that way."

Maureen's eyes softened in pity toward the older man then sighed.

"He has a galactic prime directive to abide." Maureen said. "Some days, I wish we had invested in the warp drive program and . . ." She shook her head. "That is in the past now."

"I am sorry." Smith apologized. 

"There is nothing to be sorry about, Doctor Smith." Judy said. "You were not in control of the situation."

Smith looked toward the general who glared back at him and all the protest that he had in him was no more then there was a knock on the door.

"I will get it." Penny said.

Penny went to the door then opened it and was faced by the commoner.

"Are you the head of the family?"

Maureen joined Penny's side.

"No," Maureen said. "I am."

"The ore that King Zach the first requested for you has been delivered." The commoner took out a advanced tablet then Maureen picked up the pen alongside the screen and jotted down on it. "Do you want it lifted in to the ship?"

"I do." Maureen said. "We have the hands to do that task."

"Yes, ma'am."

The commoner went down the stairs then Maureen called for the family in. Smith looked on mournfully toward the machine that was scattered on smaller tables in the galley then got up to his feet and moved the remains of Robot into another cabin. The Robinsons proceeded to bring the ore into the Jupiter 2 in buckets one at a time.

Smith looked from the study deck's large window -- A luxury version of the auxillary with bookshelves lined in books-- facing the Jupiter 2 leaning a hand against the wall. Smith lowered his gaze then walked away then came to the entrance of the ship. The elderly man put on a brave face then went back inside the Jupiter 2 million and returned with two buckets then exited the craft heading toward the cart.

* * *

Zach opened the closet door with a swing. Much to his surprise, it was a walk in closet. He walked in with his hands in his lap as he scanned the room and the light beams beamed on above him standing out against the black painted wall. He looked around quite taken by the view then tapped his chin as he searched for the clothing. It didn't take long to find the every day wear for each occasion. The color choice was a mix of dark colors and bright colors in their own rows.

Zach found each type of clothing was separated by a hovering antigravity barrier. He lifted a brow at first then searched for the most travel friendly outfit that his double had chosen and it was easily found. He took the clothing then showered in a bathroom that was remarkably advanced compared to the looks of the castle and shiny by all looks of it. He changed into the new uniform then set the old uniform to the side.

Zach smoothed out the travel outfit and stared at himself. It was strange to see himself so old but feeling so alive and young with endless energy. He put a hand on his chest then listened to the 'wur-hur' of his diode tunnel timer. The king grinned, broadly, closing his eyes then lowered his hand down to his side then his eyes opened. He packed the clothing into suitcases with care in such a way that they were folded and rolled up into a luggage for the long journey including his formal outfit.

Zach made his way toward the window of the castle then slid the window door open and breathed in the fresh air.

Then he sighed admiring the view of the apartments that stretched out before his peripheral vision with his fingers on the side of the window doors.

There is only so long that it could be enjoyed.

So, Zach stayed for awhile enjoying the calm before the storm.

* * *

The horse came to a halt in front of the entrance way leading to the castle grounds. Two guards stood at tower to tower dressed quite funny and Link looked on loomed to the side raising a brow. He hadn't seen people dressed in head to toe in literal armor asides to the occasional props that the local theater ship made and used.

It was Link who was the first to disembark the horse then come to a land alongside the horse then Will joined his side. The older man turned the horse around and beckoned it on. The horse zoomed on leaving the duo behind into the dust.

"Uncle. . . Why are those two people dressed funny?"

Link pointed toward the two guards.

"That's a royal guard." Will said. "And so is that man alongside him."

"Is that common practice?" Link asked.

"It is." Will confirmed. "Now, to meet Doctor Smith."

"How do we do that?" Link asked.

"We wait for the advanced carriage to come out and hop on into the back." Will said. "I get the distinct feeling that it will be a carriage."

Will directed Link over toward the corner of one of the buildings in a wide corridor that had shadows from the edges of the rooftops that stood out against the buildings. And that is where they waited for a hour. Link watched the strange horses zoom back and forth some going slowly among the terrain carrying crates or passengers at a time. Will made a noise then gestured on for the area across for them.

Link became quiet as did Will watching the carriage go on by. The guards were up front and flanked the side of the window to the carriage. Will grinned then elbowed at the boy and pointed on. Link spotted Zach inside taking a nap resting his eyes and snoring away in such a human way.

Once the horse drawn guards were out of the way and everyone's attention were surely on the king, Will took Link's hand then made a bolt for it. He opened the back compartment, chucked Link in, then lunged inside and closed the door with a shut.

"How are we going to tell that we stopped?" Link asked.

Will lifted the lid up.

"I will keep watch, Link." Will said. "Be quiet in the mean time."

Link nodded as he watched from the thick doorway of the surroundings changing.

* * *

A strange horse appeared without a rider as the Robinsons in the process of getting bits of his own last load then squinted at the creature for a moment and smiled as fond memories regarding previous loops in which he rode the unique creature. The commoner hooked the cart back up to the horse as Craig chucked the last bit of ore into the bucket.

"Thank you, my dear Craig." Smith thanked the younger man.

"You are welcome, Doctor Smith." Smith said. "You . . ."

"Have a uncanny resemblance with my grand pop." Craig said then laughed. "Pop and I used to pretend to be the other during the war efforts."

"I feel that I see." Smith said. "You took his place when he needed some down time."

Craig nodded back, grinning from ear to ear, proudly.

"You should have seen the looks on their faces." Craig continued to laugh as they walked away from the cart then walked on toward the Jupiter 2. "It was amusing convincing them that gran pop never aged and they were losing it."

"How in the world did the madame approve of it?" Smith asked, bewildered.

"Grand pop changed her schedule from time to time and took her out away from the temporary colony lodging for a time during their vacation." Craig went up the steps into the ship then stepped aside for the older man. "Grandma didn't really know so I stopped it after his passing."

"That must have been very bitter." Smith noted.

"It was." Craig said. "Took awhile to not be mistaken for grand pop."

"I . . " Smith didn't know what to say at first for a single moment. "I see a young man with some similarities but one stark difference."

"What is that difference?" Craig asked.

"I know that you are not him." Smith said.

Judy walked away from the table dusting her hands off then slid the door open to Will's cabin and gasped, loudly, drawing the attention of the men.

"Doctor Smith, have you seen Will?" Judy turned toward Smith.

"Afraid not, my dear Judy." Smith said as he set the bucket in the center of the room as the rest of the family were getting the ore refinement equipment out of the storage room. 

"Mother!" Judy called.

"What is it, Judy?" Maureen asked, worried, joining her side.

"Will is isn't here." Judy said then Maureen looked in.

"Where is Link?" Penny came inside appearing to be frightened. "I have searched all over for him."

"Wherever Will is, Link has to be there." Maureen said then she smiled, as a thought struck her, naturally. "They are visiting Daddy Zach."

"They may find their trip to be in vain." Smith said. "He isn't going to have the time for them when he is in the process of fixing his mistake."

"He will make time for them." Maureen said. "They will be fine and return in a hour or two after the visit."

"Madame, Will and Link have gone to meet a king." Smith said. "A child given the opportunity to be the knight in shining armor and the other to fulfill the role they have always wanted to be---"

"Isn't a very good combination." Maureen finished for the older man then reached her hand out on the side of his arm where her hand rested. "Will has grown up from that kind of wishing, Doctor Smith."

"Nobody really out grows fantasies, my dear madame." Smith replied.

"We got enough material to start the process of making Robot some new parts." Don picked up a chunk of ore. "Some over due new parts."

"We can give him a update for his treads." Judy said. "I got the tread equipment all settled right here."

"And he needs a new helmet to replace the old one." Penny said. "All scratched up from using it to determine if we had diamonds on our hands."

"He will be overjoyed." Maureen said.

"Feel like a entirely new person." Don chimed in.

"Indeed!" Smith said and the family laughed. And that felt _good_.

* * *

The carriage came to a stop at the royal center of starships. The door was slid open then the elderly man came down the stairs using a support stick as his aid. He set it aside into a small cup holder and it blended in along the railing that was automatically generated. He walked toward the craft that waited for him at the landing pad flanked by royal guards.

A shout caused him to stop in his tracks then whir toward the source of the voice. He spotted a familiar young boy dressed in a black jumpsuit with a green dickie and a older man in a dark burgendy with yellow dickie who were tossed to the ground---it was strange to see there were no colorful additions to the v-neck---with a thud. Zach recognized the face of the younger man then lowered the weapons of the guards by his side. Will helped Link up to his feet.

"Your majesty--"

"Let them remain." Zach said.

Zach approached the younger man.

"You have recovered well from the incident." Zach noted, pleased. "How was the crash, my dear boy?"

"It was rough." Will admitted. "But, I recovered quickly."

"I always knew you were resilient, William." Zach said cheerfully then tilted his head and lifted a brow with mild concern. "Why are you here?"

"You're not really _here_ here." Will said. "It makes all the difference and it's not the way that things should be."

"I won't ever be really there," Zach said, grimaced, regretful.

"Yes, you can." Will said.

Zach's face faltered.

"William . . ." Zach shook his head. "This is _war_. A proper war."

"I have been through that kind of war for the last thirty years, Doctor Smith." Will said.

"This one is different." Zach replied as his stash of belongings were taken out of the back compartment then moved into the ship one by one during the discussion.

"How different?" Will asked. "Asides to losing you twice?"

"A entire world is going to be fighting for your family." Zach's words were sharp icicles to Will's chest. "I am prepared to lose everything that I hold dear to this world. You're not."

Will became silent at first.

"You just don't want me to go with and chasing you into the afterlife a second time then leave my family for good."

Zach squeezed his eyes shut at the painful reminder of how they had crossed paths then sighed, opening his eyes, lifting his head up.

"I am a machine, William." Zach replied. "You're not. You have a life to lead."

"That kind of life is worse than the ones that I lived before." Will said. "Being on the run for thirty years, being on Gamma for ten short years, being lost in space for two years, being raised on Earth for ten."

"You get not to be part of a war being with the others on the run just for a little bit longer." Zach put his hands on the side of the man's shoulders and tightly clenched. "You get to have a life better than the old one!" He shook the younger man. "Don't you get it, my dear boy? You get to live!"

"What is the point of being blissfully unaware and waiting for news of your inclusion when I would hear you lost the battle without the smallest of outside help?"

Zach sighed, irritated, then his nerves soothed as he withdrew his hand from the younger man's shoulders

"Zach _is_ me." Zach said. "Being on the run; this time, you would have a friend there."

"Really, Doctor Smith?" Will asked, cynically, his brows raised, glaring back.

Zach grew quiet then softly began to reply.

"He is the only part of Doctor Smith that will stay behind and have a happy ending of the entire war that I am going to make happen." Zach reminded the younger man. "I won't see the months or years after the war."

The older man's demeanor changed in a matter of seconds that lost all its warmth, liveliness, and optimism. It was the bleak, sad, dread aspects of a war that ravaged a man and lives. It was the kind of look Will hadn't seen from everyone else but from movies. Of everyone's reactions, they kept it light and up beat to the best of their ability.

It was if Zach became hollow to his eyes becoming completely serious. It was the looks of a soldier of war. No, a leader in the middle of war. No, it was as if staring into the future and seeing a survivor from war standing in the middle of the street having a moment to themselves staring on processing what they were going through.

"It's a deal if you let me be there and help." Will said.

"What can you do that they can't?" Zach looked at Will, skeptically.

"Your majesty, with all respect, I get a distinct feeling that you need some help regarding machines." Will said.

Zach turned toward the guards. 

"This young man will be joining us." Zach said then turned toward the younger man. "You have a lot of work to do and explaining."

"Hey!" Link shouted.

"Oh dear." Zach said.

"No problem, just send him back to the ship." Will said.

"I am going with." Link said.

"No." Zach and Will declined.

"I am not asking," Link folded his arms. "I am telling you."

"Really, Link?" Will asked lifting a brow.

"Really." Link nodded then Will looked toward Zach and nodded toward him.

Zach sighed, briefly closing his eyes then reopened them, raising his attention upon the boy with dark brown hair.

"You're a child, my dear Link." Zach shook his head while replying to the boy. "You have _just_ started living." The elderly man twirled a hand in mid-air. "Guards, please return this boy to his ship."

"Yes, your majesty."

Zach turned away facing the younger man.

"Do you really want to die far away from your family?" Zach asked.

"Distance doesn't separate family, your majesty." Will replied with a smile as Link was being drawn away kicking and shouting. Will faced the young boy and waved at him as he was drawn away. "Good-bye, Link."

Zach boarded the craft then Will followed and the door to the craft closed.

"Chief of communications, prepare to contact the Jupiter 2, the royal assistant of engineering needs to prepare a farewell. "

"Yes, your majesty."

"And William, I have a inkling of your role in this plan." Zach said.

"What is the big idea, your majesty?" Will asked.

"Paul Revere." Zach grinned.

"We have established contact, your majesty."

"Wow, that is from the auxiliary window!" Will said.

"Indeed!" Zach clapped his hands together then rubbed his hands and shifted toward the younger man with a grin. "William, raise your voice. They should hear you."

"Mom." Will started. "Hey, mom. Mom! Over here! MOM!"

Maureen raised her head up from the view of the ore then turned toward the window spotting a high definition view of Will beside Zach with guards behind them. She quickly approached the auxiliary being followed by Penny and Judy. Craig and Don stopped what they were doing while Smith resumed doing what he was on. The men turned around in the direction that the women were staring in.

"Will, how is your trip?" Maureen asked.

"Wonderful." Will said as Craig and Don joined the women. "More fun than it has been as of recently."

"Hello, your majesty." Maureen said.

"Hello, madame." Zach nodded with a smile.

"Is there something that we should be aware of?" Penny asked. "Did Link get into trouble?"

"No, Penny." Will said. "Everything is going exactly as it should."

"Where is Link?" Penny asked.

"On his way being returned to the ship," Will replied then Penny relaxed. "I will be spending some time with Zach for the time being and see how I can help in his war efforts. He is going to help us, mom."

"So we have heard from Don." Then Maureen eyed at the older man on the freshly generated screen across from her. "If you don't mind me asking; What took you so long to come around, your majesty?" 

"I believed the Earthlings had it under control, madame." Zach admitted. "I was wrong." his features turned regretful and apologetic. "I am sorry." his words came out sincerely. "You have always had a card up your sleeve regarding the war on your species in making your escape and several battles."

"Just make sure that Will comes back in one piece." Maureen said.

"Just in time for Christmas." Judy said.

"I intend for this war to be over by then." Zach replied. "I will retire to my cabin. Adieu, Penelope, madame, Judith, General West-Robinson," then he warmly regarded the last member of the family. "Professor Robinson."

Zach turned away then walked on.

"He doesn't really know." Will admitted, sheepishly. 

"Make sure you tell him that." Craig said.

"Good-bye." Will waved and there were waves back in return then the screen was replaced by the window.

"And good luck." Maureen said to empty air.


	9. Chapter 9

"Link!"

Penny was the first to greet the boy once he was returned to the Jupiter 2 in a hug.

"Hey mom, I am okay." Link said with a laugh.

Penny stepped back, her hands landing to the shoulder of the boy.

"I was frightened a little about you out there." Penny said. "It's good to see you in one piece."

Link laughed then Penny withdrew and he looked on spotting the elderly man ahead of him seated on the stair step rereading a booklet that completely masked his face. Penny shifted her attention off the boy with a hand on the side of his shoulder looking on toward the figure who was the one of the few members -- and strangest characters of them all -- who acted stranger than fiction. 

"Who's that?" Link asked. 

"That's the man Z-40 was based off." Penny said. "He is just rereading up on how to put our Robot together."

Link was puzzled; how many Doctor Smiths were there? And before he knew it, without being beckoned to do so, he was walking toward the direction of the elderly man with a void beside him that seemed quite wrong. it was as if he were meant to have another person by his side -- except they were not --- and the young boy realized, he had expected the older man to be accompanied by Robot or by his uncle Will. Most of the stories always started with, "Doctor Smith and I. . ." and it was stranger to find him alive, well, whole.

"Hi." Link said as Smith was seated on the edge of the stair step.

Smith lowered the booklet shifting up toward Link.

"Hello there, my dear child." Smith said. "Did you enjoy the trip to the capital of Andronica?"

"It wasn't as busy as I thought it would be or terribly boring." Link said. "It was unexpected."

"I am Doctor Zachary Smith."

For the first time, saying that name as a identity didn't feel quite natural. It felt strange, alien, and something unfamiliar coming from his voice, his tongue, and his own mouth. Once, it felt to have been a part of who he was and what he was and what he stood for--but, now it _didn't_. The name that he had before, as his counterpart had so elegantly put it, didn't fit him either. But now, it did. And speaking the name as though it were his own: it was weird.

"My name is Link Robinson." Link held his hand out. 

Smith smiled then took Link's hand.

"Pleased to meet you, my dear Link." Smith replied. 

"You need glasses." Link said.

"I intend to get them after Robot has been put back together." Smith said. "Making the right prescription will take some time."

Link sat down alongside Smith.

"I feel that we are going to spend awhile on this planet before we rejoin the rest of the colonists." Link linked his hands between his knees as he leaned forward.

Smith nodded, gravely, to his assessment.

"A couple days at least." Smith speculated. "Say, how about you fill me in about the adventures your family has been on? I have been out of the loop for a long time."

"Mom can fill in the best parts that I wasn't there for." Link said as Penny joined the men coming to a seat alongside Link.

"Do tell, my dear child." Smith beckoned the younger woman to speak.

Penny grinned as Smith held the booklet in his lap then she proceeded to speak.

* * *

Zach listened to what Will had to say regarding the parts that had to be replaced and how they were to be replaced with anecdotes from tales of the construction process. The younger man laughed from time to time which made the older man smile as he strayed off topic at the private dining room of the ship. The briefing took roughly nine hours transitioning from various stages of the android development to the model that Zach was inside of now. With that, Will finished.

"William, you seem to be very into the business of synthetic life forms."

"That I am."

"Did you major in it?"

"I pioneered it."

"I get that. But, why?"

"I missed seeing you. I couldn't bring you back, I accepted that, Doctor Smith." Will held his hand up preventing the older man from cutting him up. "Robot was the most of us unhappy so I decided to take him through memory lane and help his pain go away."

"But things went the other way."

"Indeed."

"And the whole business that he was for future grandchildren?"

"That's what we tell ourselves and everyone around us."

"When did Robot attack everyone?"

"After Z-40's death." Will replied. "Robot was more upset than I thought he was."

"The ninny doesn't strike me as the kind of machine being controlled by his grief." Zach took a sip from a cup alongside him on the table then lowered it down and licked his lips. He turned his attention upon the younger man then picked a grape off the vine and placed it on to the plate where he spun it.

"People change, Doctor Smith." Will said. "Losing you a second time and being unable to help you? That hurt him."

"Z wasn't me." Zach reminded.

"In many ways, Doctor Smith, he was you." Will said as Zach popped the grape into his mouth and proceeded to chew. "Physically."

Zach nodded to the acknowledgement.

"Mentally, he was a entirely new person." Zach observed.

"Yeah, he was." Will said, fondly. "He grew to become aware of what he was and who he was. Most of Z's flaws and personality was something that he made himself."

Zach looked back at the evolution of Robot and how he came to be his own person in the original timeline with certain nostalgia. He picked grape after grape off the vine then proceeded to eat the large slab of meat on the plate with green beans, corn, and mash potatoes with gravy. They ate dinner silently as Will looked back fondly of what had been a long time with Z-40 then laughed. 

"Robot was sabotaged by your dear friend." Zach said, abruptly, lifting his attention up once cutting the row of meat aside then began to cut it into pieces. "And I can't say the same for Z as it was unexpected."

Will became quiet as he prepared his meal thoroughly then lowered his silverware.

"Alicia came to the colony nine years ago." Will said. "She was forty-two and so was I."

Zach looked up toward him, ceasing to cut, then lowered his silverware.

"You weren't just best friends with her, weren't you?"

"We were."

"But, you sound like someone recounting the beginning of a lovely romance."

"I was pining on her. And I wanted to ask her out when there wasn't a war. We did hang out and have some fun times but not romantic in nature."

"So, you were platonic."

"We were."

"How did she leave your life?"

"I . . . I. . um . ."

"William, are you meaning to imply that she never left your life?"

"She used a instant mobile maser beam to return her to her ship."

"They don't know? How did this happen?"

"Let's just say it was a very long time ago."

"Not long ago to you."

"We were sharing the Jupiter 970,573." Will said. "My personal one. I. . . I was weak, I was hurt, and I was angry---"

"Grieving."

"And she drugged me then changed the course to the nearest planet. I was only able to stop the crash from wrecking my body by using one of those magnetic locks." Will lifted a hand then closed it giving the general idea of the magnetic locks that he was discussing. He lowered his hand on to the table much to the befuddlement of the older man. "I have a lot of metal in my body that the doctors put in me to replace irreplaceable bones."

Will became quiet as Zach leaned back into the chair letting go of a sigh cupping his hands into his lap.

"What did you lock on to?"

"The astronavigator."

"William, do you know how unsafe it is to put yourself on that instead of a freezing tube or a chair during landing?"

"I was completely out of it, Doctor Smith."

"Right, you were drugged."

"I don't know, though. The Astronavigator wasn't that thick of heavy. In fact, the center of it is the replica of the Jupiter."

"Crash landings are highly unpredictable once they start rolling and damaging a spacecraft."

"What dug unto my chest?"

"Given that it was heavy, it had to be the center general alarm system and a few regenerator circuit panels."

Will slid his sleeve back and saw that his joints were covered in white gauze as were his hands and ankles. He winced sliding his sleeves and pant legs back down. They were quiet at the table with their forks striking the center of the gray plate with a black rim that had became empty over time. Will looked up from the plate after several bites, chewed, then swallowed.

"Can you elaborate by being Paul Revere?"

"I will signal you with a specific signal." Zach replied. "You tell your network of friends to start the alarm that the Andronicans are coming and the Earthlings start to shelter." Will's eyes started to widen at the last part. "It's not a small role. It will drastically reduce the causalities of any Earthlings that still live there resisting against them."

"Doctor Smith, they don't strike me as the kind of having slaves."

"William, they did something to me back in the original timeline. Something that left me in a box until we were on that little planet we called home for awhile."

"What was it?"

"It was all illusion that I was in control and had a choice." Zach explained on quietly and softly. "I was not." he shook his head with a sigh. "I was used as a puppet to the very end until their grip was lost." He was quiet for full surreal moments. "Your tales of those visitors acting as if they were in a trance confirms my theory. Aliens are hardly interested in Earthlings or disobeying the galactic prime directive."

"Sounds to me that they cut you off from their string."

Zach nodded, somberly.

"They did."

Will paused as the older man gazed down toward the empty plate fiddling with his fingers as he saw him in a different light. The older man looked more ancient, tormented, making himself appear small, as it occurred to Will the certain opportunity of Captain Hapgood taking his old friend home was rejected every time. It was intentional, just as Will had thought so long ago, a choice that broke his friend every time.

"You were in a trance for how long?"

Zach was quiet.

"I prefer not to talk about it."

"It matters to me."

"It ended when you and your family left for warmer area."

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

"When do you intend to start the plan, Doctor Smith?"

"Soon as we go to Destructon, retrieve some smugglers, and the people who regenerate quickly after death; it should start on February the eleventh. Should. All that has to be ironed out is the details of your return to Earth."

"I got a idea." Will said.

Zach raised his brows.

"Do tell." Zach said.

"But, you won't like it." Will imposed a caveat.

"Do you get hurt?" Zach asked.

"Yes." Will said.

"That is a terrible idea, my dear boy. You are not a young man anymore. Get a better idea." Zach stood up from the table. "Think about this idea long and hard." he put his hands on the table. "I keep my word when I make it, William." he took his hands off then stepped away from the table. "You'll find the man I really am is different from the one you knew around the Jupiter 2 and it isn't pretty."

"Ah, um, Doctor Smith," Will held up a finger. "I'm a Professor in humanities and cybernetics."

"And Geology." He set the chair in with a hand. "You were very passionate about your rocks and the ground when we last parted."

"Yeah." Will nodded with a grin. "So it's _Professor_ Robinson to you." He stood up from the chair as Zach tapped on the back rest of the chair, surprised, but not shocked. "You'll find that the man I have become is different from the child that you left behind and what he does for those under his charge is not pretty."

"So, you are ready to become dirty."

"I am."

"Then think of a plan that gets you dirty but doesn't get you severely hurt."

"I am not fragile."

"William, elderly are more prone to being injured."

"Oh, I see where you are coming from." Will laughed at the reminder as he leaned back folding his arms. "Okay, I will think up a really good idea that has minimal injures."

"Take your time, my dear boy. Don't waste it, however." Zach warned the younger man. "You have one month."

"What about the second month?" Will asked.

Zach stared the younger man down.

"That's for you to get yourself settled in."

"Give me one week."

"Trust doesn't take a week to form for people in that position." Zach insisted. "It takes _weeks_."

"Then give me a instant communicator and I will prove you wrong." Will said.

"Deal it is." Zach replied. " _After_ your idea is in order."

"After that." Will said.

"Good night." Zach replied. "Your cabin is to the right, second doorway, it's the supply closet."

"Down the hall from the bathroom, got it." Will said. "Why would you put me in the supply closet?"

"It is the only available room in which you don't get pestered by the guards regarding what our discussion was about." Zach elaborated.

Then Will shook his hand with a aged laugh.

"I _like_ to be pestered, Doctor Smith." Will insisted.

"Not when you get tied down to a chair, aimed a light at you, and asked questions." Zach said.

"I can handle that." Will said.

"I am not taking any chances in the beginning of this voyage regarding your well being." Zach went to the diamond then waved his hand and the door slid open. "If something terrible were to happen to you around me then I wouldn't know how I could ever face your mother and family members."

"In the beginning of this voyage." Will got up from the chair then slid it in underneath the table as he repeated what the older man said. "You are going to reassign me with the guards eventually?

"Eventually." Zach confirmed. "Three days of having your own cabin then leaving you in the crew cabin." Zach gestured toward the doorway. "We need to slowly bring you in as a crew member and accepted. Rushing it now?" Zach grimaced at the mental image. "That situation I mentioned would happen." He shook the image off his mind. "Anyway, what was Alicia's last name?"

"Winthart." Will said. "Don't tell mom." Will held his hand up. "I want to handle my problem."

"So you will, Professor." Zach said then exited.

And Will followed once wiping his hand off on the napkin then went in the direction that his old friend had directed. He went into the cabin that had dimmed orange lights, a well prepared cot, and a small bathroom that was across but cramped. All in all, it reminded Will of a motel room that didn't have walls. No, it reminded Will of a prison cell. Will shrugged it off as the door closed behind him then took his boots off and crept into bed then was out like a light. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I didn't have Link's and Smith's first meeting so yes, that was added.


	10. Chapter 10

_"John. . ."_

_"We're going to come back."  
_

_That was the comment that made her smile. Her partner was always so strong, optimistic, and hopeful when it meant on a matter that had to be tackled. When it meant other matters, he was the weakest, vulnerable, and bleak on certain matters such as: taxes, pulling out one of the children's baby teeth, going to the dentist, getting a thorn removed from his fingers, and having a meal that meant certain hot peppers that he were allergic to._

_"One day." Maureen nodded._

_John grinned, optimistic, watching the distant view of the planet shrink before his eyes._

_"One day, soon." John said.  
_

_"We are going to need a lot of ammunition and people behind us once we come back here." Maureen said._

_"The least we can do is send radio rockets and hope for the best." John said.  
_

_"The very best." Maureen said.  
_

_"Maureen, if something happens to me. . ." John looked down toward Maureen. "I want you to make sure the children get home."_

_"And if something were to happen to me?" Maureen asked.  
_

_"I wouldn't be myself." John sighed, being frank, lowering his head reflecting over the matter. "I don't have fortitude to go on knowing you're gone and there was nothing I could do about it."_

_"Me too."_

_John shook his head, somberly, as he smiled back down toward Maureen._

_"Maureen, remember how well you kept the ship running when Don and I were doing surveys for days at a time?" What he got in return was a nod. "The children and Doctor Smith were in high spirits."_

_"HA!" Robot laughed from across. "High spirit? You mean Doctor Smith being miserable."_

_"But, he was happy, Robot." John reminded. "Despite being away from Earth for so long."_

_"True. . True. . . true." Robot replied. "He wasn't as bad as he was in the first year being so homesick."_

_"Because we welcomed him into our family and made sure he felt that he belonged in a new home." Maureen said._

_"Just think of the colonists as that." John said. "When that day comes, just think of them as your family that you have to help guide. And I hope ---" he took both her hands as he stood in front of her, clenching them, quite unhappy by his request for her. "that day never has to come around."_

_"Back out there," she looked back toward the window, sorrowfully, watching the marble that had once been the planet of their dreams. "But this time, we are not the only ones. . ."_

_"That's better than being the sole colonist on a alien planet, is it not?" John asked._

_"It is." Maureen said. "John, but those when we knew where you were and that you were okay."_

_"Where I will be, darling. . . " John said, softly. "will always know where I am and that I am okay." he took her free hand then gave it a squeeze. "I need you to be strong for me."_

_Maureen looked up toward John then gave a nod._

_"Then that is what I will be after you." Maureen said. "A strong widow keeping the fort up."_

_John smiled._

_"I love you."_

_"I love you, too."_

_And they shared a small kiss on the residential deck as the ship retreated from a place they once called home._

* * *

Maureen was outside of the ship looking on toward the constellation that the promised planet was as she rubbed her shoulder standing outside of the ship with the stairs behind her. She was sorrowful but hopeful looking on as her heart yearned for her other half. She was older and grayer than she had been the last time that she had stared this way before with one piece of herself missing. 

The matriarch had hope, patience, and love by her side that kept her going.

"I miss you, darling." Maureen said.


	11. Chapter 11

"King Zach the first is going to help the Earthlings, father."

The well aged former royal guard, Stuvikoa, who had once been part Zach's security looked up toward his son in surprise at the dinner table. The words that came from his son were highly unexpected as the family that consisted of several generations under the same roof stared at the member in the royal circle. The young man took a bite of his bread then set it on to the plate.

"That is unexpected, Brub." Stuvikoa asked. "Why?"

"General West came in." Brub said.

"General West?" Stuvikoa leaned back into the chair quite puzzled. "When did this happen?"

"Four days ago." Brub said.

"Since then he hasn't show up to parliament to open it up during the morning ceremony and hasn't done so since then." Leilei, Stuvikoa's house mate, replied. "His assistant claimed that he were going on a much needed vacation according to a friend of mine. He may be with the people that he once spoke so highly of for some reprieve of his kingly duties. He will return."

Brub grimaced shaking his head as most of the other generations opted to remain silent.

"The king is is off on a mission to assemble some forces before he starts the legal steps of declaring war." as he talked, the members at the long table stared with rapid attention on to him.

It was quiet in the room.

"He has taken steps in the mean time to protect his people, has he not?" Stuvikoa asked. 

"That is the case." Brub said.

"War." Stuvikoa said, grimly. "The first war Andronica will be part of."

"Remember the rumors about the battle for the Earthlings thirty some years ago?" Leilei asked.

"Which one?" Stuvikoa looked toward Leilei.

"The first one, dear." Leilei said.

"Aaaah," Stuvikoa nodded leaning back into the chair with a small smile. "That one."

"Mother, father, what battle for the Earthlings?" Brub's younger brother, Fincent, asked.

"It was a long time ago. Back when I was your age, Brub." Stuvikoa said. "There were murmurs from His Royal Majesty's Staff about his private feelings on the matter."

"There has never been a battle for the Earthlings."

"There was a battle." Stuvikoa insisted at the dinner table then sighed. "The people who fought in it just came from a different time."

"Different time." grumbled the uncle. "You mean a entire different world."

"He wanted to be part of it but the matter was . . . quite against the scope of the galactic prime directive." Stuvikoa lemented on the issue. "Personally?" Stuvikoa snickered, looking aside at the memory. "He was assembling a small scouting crew to 'ascertain the battle field' in his words."

"And he didn't have to send a army there as part of a battle." Leilei said. "There will be no war. The Earthlings will come out on top and defeat their foe."

"Mother, they have been running for thirty years." Brub reminded. "This war will happen."

"Things can change with a flip of a needle, dear Brub." Leilei said. "Nothing to get excited about." She sipped from a spoon and swallowed the gulp then looked up apologetically toward her eldest son. "They may be destroyed before he could start the battle." Leilei grimaced just as Stuvikoa did on the issue.

"The Robinsons and their current problem have opened up alliances and treaties that Andronica has been eating up every day." Brub replied. "I believe Andronica does owe them."

"Andronica in the Earthlings debt?" Stuvikoa asked. "Don't be so absurd, son! They didn't save our lives on the battle field."

"But they have changed the minds of those who have helped them escape their would be murderers and shown them that working with another civilization has its perks as well as its ugly parts that have to be . . ."

Brub scooped aside some beans on the plate full of bread crumbs then slid it aside into a pile.

"Shifted over. Set aside."

"Son, I don't like where you are taking this." Stuvikoa said.

"Neither do I, father." Brub's gaze met with Stuvikoa's irritated but quite calm demeanor. "But alas, I am here."

He shifted his attention up toward his parents with a glare that was quite demeaning.

"That is enough, Brub." Leilei said.

He scooped up some gravy then poured it on top of the beans and mixed it in until there were only rounded gray-rounded balls then looked up toward his parents.

"Sugar coated. Covered up. Put under the rug. A entire civilization being destroyed and doing nothing---I fear, the Zach that you know won't be the Zach that I know."

"The king has suffered personal losses in the last thirty years." Stuvikoa replied then took a bite from the spoon and lowered it. "He will move on to the next matter." Stuvikoa nodded, certain, swallowing whole the gulp of soup. "Making a galactic sanction against those species. It's the diplomatic way."

"The way that you retold of how he talks about the Robinsons to me as a child, father."

"Yes, what about it?" Stuvikoa tilted his head and lifted a brow.

"That's the way you talk about family." Brub replied then resumed eating.

"You are implying that he will go on a murderous rampage, dear Brub." Leilei said.

"Would you, mother, father?" Brub asked. "If it came down to it?"

"We're highly esteemed members of Andronica with a image to keep up, loss of a family member or not." Leilei said.

"The entire family is what the boy is meaning to say," the elderly matriarch of the family, Terish, spoke up. "At my age, I could take down a entire squadron."

"You wish, great-great-great grandmother." Leilei said. "You can hardly walk without relying on that exosuit and it goes out after twenty hours."

"Speaking of which, isn't it close to the twenty hours mark?" Stuvikoa asked.

"Almost." Terish said. "You younger people, on the other hand, could take out a entire building of people."

"We can hardly kill a fly, great-great-great-great grandmother." Fincent said. "Father can barely lift a knife and murder a mad animal."

"That will change when the winds of war comes here." Terish said as she scanned the faces of her long and well with standing family admiring how far they have come and pitying how far they would have to go apart for the sake of the family. "And we all may not be sitting as a family at the dinner table by the time the year is over."

"All this doom and gloom talk is getting on my nerves, how about we discuss something else, like Fincent's scraped knee from chasing a thief on Terish's watch."

Terish held a hand out.

"I am tired, can one of you dears take me to my chamber?"

The younger members of the family bolted up--

"Fincent, stay!" Leilei demanded as Terish was guided by two of Fincent's cousins.

Fincent sat down.

"You---HOW---" Leilei cut herself off multiple times. "HOW HOW did you slip by the most eagle eyed elderly woman on Andronica?"

"She was tired." Fincent replied, causally, to his mother. "And she was knitting. She fell asleep."

"Fincent," Leilei said. "I like you to be careful and put on knee guards when you run off."

"That takes too long, mother!" Fincent said.

"Law enforcement is capable of catching a thief, Fincent." Leilei said. "You don't need to be the hero."

"I am small and I am fast." Fincent said. "Someone who can go through crowds! Adults can't."

The family roared with laughter, tearfully, as a few of them lost the ability to laugh but were smacking their fists on the table as their faces turned red.

* * *

Fincent awoke the following morning and his mind was bouncing back and forth. _WAR! War! War! War!_ The idea that he could be part of something big, something long and drawn out, something quite new and spiced compared to his relatively quiet existence was exciting. After his morning bath and breakfast with his extended family, Fincent put on his recycled helmet including the well taken care of armor that now decorated his figure.

He was grinning from ear to ear as he took out his toy sword-like blaster that could be adjusted to appear to be a rifle with a few compartments slid down after being unlatched with a finger. He went out the front door to the sprawling apartment complex in which housed a good chunk of his closest family members. He sped down the stairs waving his toy in mid-air with a battle cry heading down the stairs.

"We're going to war! We're going to war! We're going to war! We're going to war!"

He sped through the streets shouting it off the top of his lungs--

"We're going to go to war! We're going to go to war! We're going to go to war! BWUAH BUEEYH!"

The passer bys only laughed in bemusement as he twirled his sword in the air.

"WAAAAR! You're gonna be dead! beugh beu beu! That building is going to be destroyed! beu beu beuh! You're all going to seek for shelter! BQUAAH BEEEYGH! beuh bueh beugh beuh!"

The officer in charge of that street only shook her head and watched Fincent bolt on by as he aimed at stores and housing calling out their fates as being little more than hollow, crumbling, stained, and empty buildings with debris, echoes of peace and civilization as: "abandoned, destroyed! SQUID ALIENS HIDING IN WITH WEAPONS!" The boy's shouting certainly brought that to mind from several films and television series that had depictions of cities after war and documentaries that recorded the events after the war had started.

She was certain; this was pure but quite dark imagination.

* * *

"Why are you here?"

This was the first question that was presented to Will as he were seated in the chair with four of the protectors of his aged friend standing in front of him. Will saw how the men were looking upon him. Will's hands were left in his lap -- hands that he were winging -- as he felt all eyes were upon him.

"To help." Will replied.

The four guards stared down upon him, incredulous.

"It has been forty years since King Zach has left your life and you let him go." Will was reminded. "Why have you come running back into his life?"

"Like I said," Will folded his arms then looked up toward the men. "To help."

"In what way?" The leader of the troop furrowed his brows together.

"If you haven't noticed, King Zach has a army and defense system and isn't at war for the time being." Will reminded. 

"That we do get." the leader of the small guard group replied. "He even has better protection, up to date technology, and a chance."

"I want to help him in whatever way I can for something very important." Will said.

"What?" the second guard snickered, leaning against the third, shaking his head. "A war?"

"Not too fine of a point, but; yes." Will confirmed.

"What war?" The head of the group replied.

"The same alien species that have sent us running away for the last few decades." Will replied, politely. "Not much of a war but it is a battle."

The guards stepped back.

"The wounds from his evil twin were more severe than what he let on." the head of the group replied.

"Or he has lost his metal marbles." the second member of the guards replied. "He is a very old man, age is getting on him, he needs glasses to read these days, and he is smaller than he once was."

"He has always been a short man according to my father." came the fourth member, proudly, with a grin. "Well, he did grow up on a world that wasn't quite justified and food wasn't quite up to par for lower classes."

All in all they looked down toward Will.

"If you take advantage of his current mental health then we will kill you with energy blades and I promise you it will be very painful."

"And I promise you, uh, officers, um, guards," Will leaned forward, stumbling over his words, not quite sure how to refer to them himself. "Protectors, whatever you call yourselves, that I won't." He held his hand up. "I swear on my father's name."

The person in the center of the guards only nodded.

"I am Juven," Juven said.

"Good to meet you, Mr Juven." Will said.

"This is Mavis," he referred to the fourth. "Mavis isn't a man but a woman. She was born in the wrong body. Just working here until she gets enough body to do the final procedure." Mavis waved back at Will sporting a grin tilting her helm up. "It's a strictly male profession so after the procedure she is going to put her file in and leave it. She likes this job but it can't have her."

"Hi Mavis." Will said.

"Hello." Mavis said, quietly with a smile.

"This is Bemrio." Juven referred to the second individual by his side. "He/his pronoun as is Flaudnet."

"And yours?" Will asked.

"He/him." Juven said.

"Good." Will's brows rose with a grin then lowered down. "We have that clear."

"Do you always ask people their gender preferences?" Juven asked.

"No." Will said. "But this conversation brought that up."

"Does this question get thrown often in your civilization?" Mavis asked, curious.

"Sometimes but then most of the time they introduce themselves and get it out of the way." Will said. "We hardly have to ask."

"Alright, royal guards, go to bed." Juven was the first to step back folding his arms looking upon Will quite wearily. "We have a very easy duty."

Will watched them go to their cots.

"What is that, Juven?" Will asked.

Juven slid off his boots then grinned looking toward Will.

"Keeping up with the king." Juven replied to Will. "He is a very slow elderly man and that makes him easy to protect."

Will shrugged fighting back a smirk. _No, no, no, he isn't slow anymore._ Will chuckled to himself then went to the cot that had been improvised for him by the residential staff of the ship. He slipped off his boots and morning wear trading them for more convenient uniform that was bright blue even a bit transparent showing his figure beneath the outfit similar to a type of fabric that Will couldn't remember from the top of his head. He slipped under the bed and once his head hit the pillow, Will was fast asleep.

* * *

"Beuw! Bau!" Fincent continued on playing with his toy sword aiming it at random parts of the landscape. "Beau! Beau!"

Fincent collided with a figure and fell back with a thud.

"Ow." Came a whine.

Fincent got up to his feet then looked on spotting a elderly man on the ground.

"Ooops sorry, mr." Fincent apologized. "I was playing."

"My head."

"Geeze, I didn't even bump into you that hard."

"Oh dear, I am over ninety and being part of children's entertainment is beyond this bod's shelf life."

"I am so sorry!"

"Oh, it's fine. I have collided against worse things and landed in literal piles cushioning my fall."

Fincent laughed.

"You are a funny old man."

He whimpered trying to prop himself up.

"Oh dear, it seems that I can't get up."

Fincent spotted a wound along the side of the elderly man's head then came over to his side and took the man's hand.

"Come on, mr."

The older man's hand wrapped around the boy's wrist arm while his other hand was held on to the boy's hand. Th older man was guided over to a tree stump then set about there. The boy took out a transparent band-aid from his pocket then peeled it open and planted it on the elderly man's head. The elderly man sighed, a hand on his knee, his head lowering.

"Are you okay, mr?"

The elderly man sighed, shaking his head, briefly closing his head.

"No." his aged blue eyes looked up toward the boy quite curious. "Hm, why are you in armor, my dear boy?"

"I am playing a game."

"What kind of game?"

"Play fighting. We're gonna go to war for the Earthlings." The elderly man paled at the boy's casual reply. "My brother Brub heard this from King Zach. My family believes it won't happen while he is actively preparing for it."

"What makes that so exciting when you are going to lose everything that you hold dear for your planet?" He locked eyes with the boy then pointed a finger at the boy with a glare. "If you say war brings certain change to civilization, that isn't going to cut it as a answer."

"Mom and dad aren't going to go, so, why not be part of the effort to defend the city?" Fincent asked.

"But you're just a child!" The old man paused then sighed. "Forgive me for my outburst . . . War isn't something that we adults take lightly."

"So? I am small, I am quiet, I can slip by and plant things." Fincent replied to the elderly man who listened attentively. "I can help in the battle of Andronica."

The elderly man grimaced before replying.

"Should it come to that -- which it _won't_ , I am fairly certain of that --- you should welcome the rescue effort that drives children away from the war zone."

At the man's suggestion, Fincent only laughed throwing his head back with a good laugh.

"That effort will be done before the army comes here and starts a war." he walked in a circle around the boulder. "Mom and dad won't even take it when it is in their faces." He leaned against the boulder lifting a brow then grinned as his mood shifted to pride. "But, I will be ready and I will be willing to be kind."

"How bold of you."

"Thanks you, Mr." Fincent beamed with a nod.

"Doctor Smith!" Link came running behind him. " Why aren't you hiding? This is hide and seek not wander away and be seeked for!"

"This child." Smith gestured a finger toward the boy. "Was in the mist of playing and we---"

"Collided." Fincent replied, apologetically.

"And besides, my dear boy . . ." Smith said. "You had to wait a awful long time to stop counting."

"Because you're so slow." Link replied. "Which is puzzling because you're the fastest oldest person that I know in my life apart to being part machine."

"Part machine?" Fincent asked with widened eyes. "You mean a Android?"

"Not entirely." Smith said. "I am synthesized."

"You mean artificial, Doctor Smith." Link said.

"King _Zachary_ \---King Zach and I are synthetic life forms." Smith corrected himself in mid-sentence. "Brothers by mind and soul." he put a hand on his chest in response to the fifteen year old's reply. "One of us had a body born from a cloning process and the other was built by hand." His hands moved to the side of his hips. 

"Doesn't your brother rule here?" Link asked.

"He is not here right now." Smith said, reluctantly then pouted. "He should be behind castle walls safe from certain harm not running around stirring trouble!"

"You are the king's brother?" Fincent asked.

"What I am is the source material, dear--" Smith looked upon the boy. "I didn't catch your name."

"Fincent Gidenheart."

"Wow, that is even more cooler than mine." Link held his hand out. "I am Link Robinson."

"You're a Robinson!" Fincent exclaimed, shaking Link's hand, his eyes lighting up. "You are the definition of cool!"

"Hardly." Link groaned as he wiped sweat off his brow. "Running isn't cool."

"You are right about that, dear Link." Smith replied with a frown. "Once, I believed I would be a source material for someone to draw from. Now, I am not."

"Well, you are the evil version of our good king." Fincent said. "Someone who does what has to be done. That is a lot of material to extra--extra---extra--"

"Extrapolate." Link finished.

"That!" Fincent nodded with a grin. "Would you like to play a game with me? A war game?"

"We got plenty of material to play paintball." Link said. "Come on!"

Link was the first to charge on as Smith remained where he was.

"I am not about to spend a afternoon covered in bruises--" Smith was yanked forth by Link's stray hand and tugged along with a yelp over the laughter of the boys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last scene was meant to be part of ch 12 but after careful consideration it became apparent it belonged here.


	12. Chapter 12

"Professor?"

Will turned his attention off from the list of species that had been handed to him by one of the king's assistants about their trips with and without him.

"Yeah?"

"Is being called Mr a sign of respect on your homeworld?" Juven asked. "Is that why you called me Mr Juven? Only children do that."

"Hang over of respect." Will said. "Childhood thing. Well, not really."

Juven's brows knitted together.

"What is it then?"

"It was a brain fart." Will said. "When the brain fails so comically."

he twiddled his fingers in mid-air as the guard's eyes shifted toward his fingers then he lowered it to the counter and he tapped on the screen displaying a description of the species.

"Amusing." Juven said. "We call that a . . . Blonde moment."

"Are you sure that King Zach didn't drop that?" Will asked. 

"Now that you mention it, my grandparents act annoyed at the phrase and say it never was around until the king entered the realm." Juven proceeded to become amused shortly there after.

Will roared with laughter at the amusing small story of the man who wrecked chaos wherever he went.

"I thought Juven was your last name but it could as well be your first name."

"Well, it is my first name." Juven said.

Will smiled back at the guard.

"Juven," Will said. "What is it like having a childhood in one place?"

"Eh." Juven shrugged. "It is quite boring and uneventful."

"Compared to running away for thirty years seeking for safe havens?"

"Yes," Juven replied with a short nod and a grimace. "Yours is---was a lot more exciting."

"Still exciting." Will corrected. "We are going to a prison planet. Isn't that still exciting? Getting smugglers?"

"I thought we were headed for Tauron or the Zeta Galaxy." Juven replied as he were surprised to the older man's comments.

Will shook his head with a grin then noticed Juven was grim.

"Destructon isn't a pretty place I take it."

"It isn't, Professor." Juven nodded back. "Desert scenery with raging seas. Most of the sections where the convicts work vary in weather."

"You mean Hell."

"No. Hell is a planet that is one of you well known planets." Juven leaned back into the neighboring seat across from the older man and linked his hands on the back of his head. "Venus is the most comparable. That is Hell in its purest forms."

"Hm, okay." Will shrugged.

"And it does bother me his majesty is getting smugglers."

"He may have a good reason to do that." Will speculated as he lowered the tablet to the table. "War and all."

"Yes, we get the picture of that." Juven shook his hand assuring the older man on the issue and the tension fall off. "The question is; how many is he willing to bail out? Most smugglers are in for smuggling purposes not just goods."

"Sometimes, the bad guys are the best good guys." Will said.

"What does he need with smugglers?"

"No." Will said as he leaned forward, his hands cupped into his lap, then smirked. "What does the people of Andronica need with smugglers?"

Juven paled.

"You mean to imply that he is going to drain his people broke just trying to escape when the squids?" Juven asked, quite shocked.

"Smugglers take anything of value." Will grinned, fondly, then leaned back and laughed it over. "Literally any object of value in my experience."

Juven lifted a brow then lowered it.

"That is going to be a very tough mess to sort through." Juven sighed, bitterly, frowning at the situation that would threaten their monarchy. "That will weigh on his conscience and the peoples view of him."

"King Zach has a lot of things on his mind. Mostly the guilt." Will's voice fells softer in regret at the last part. "The guilt is always the tough part to get over."

"Sounds like you have some experience on it." Juven noted.

Will smiled, his gaze shifting toward Juven, tinged by a ounce of sorrow.

"No, that's the regret I have experience in." Will said. "I don't have much guilt in my life." he meekly shrugged the topic of guilt off just like that as he leaned forward from the chair. "Just the regrets is all I got."

"What's one of them?"

"Not returning my dad's last I love you the morning I went out to have a space pod ride. I didn't think that day I would lose him." He sighed, lowering his head, ashamed. "I always did return that. You know what I told him? You know what I said?"

"You said that you will see him later."

"No, I said, 'Catch this' as I threw him the baseball glove to him and laughed. We promised to play baseball on the next planet with a bunch of the survivors."

"Oh Great Bird of the Galaxy."

"It is absolutely horrible." Will sulked.

"No. I have heard worse, Professor." Juven assured the older man. "Yours wasn't bad." Will's aged hazel eyes shifted from the floor toward the Andronican as his head was lifted up. "It's kind of tooth rooting sweet and heartbreaking."

"What's bad in your book?" Will asked, curiously.

" ' _I hate you and everything you stand for_ ' . . ."

"What did he stand for?"

"Anti-vaccination."

It was quiet between them as Will's features fell and softened.

"Juven, that's alright. " Will shook his hands. "That is something to stand against. But the first part is pretty bad."

"It is." Juven nodded, grimly. He lifted his brows at once. "What were you last words with him before King Zach left?"

Will grew a small smile.

"My version of a good-bye." Will's heartbroken smile faded. "Say, got other reading material?"

"Lots of it." Juven said. "What kind of reading material do you need?"

"Specifically their defenses, crime, drama, comedy, something mundane asides to that." Will said.

"We got plenty of the others," Juven said. "However, I can give you contact to someone who majors in knowing every defense of the people we are going."

"Thanks."

"Is this for the war effort?" Juven asked. 

Will shook his head with a pout.

"I haven't really gotten to know their defenses running away focusing on the Jupiter 2 and the colony vessels." Will said. "Curious is all."

Now, it was Juven's turn to smile.

"Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back." Juven said.

Juven got up and departed the small chamber.


	13. Chapter 13

Zach was reading the tablet that indicated the many civilizations that the colonists of Alpha Centauri had opened up for the people of Andronica. The more that he read, the more that he got confused, the text was confusing from beginning to end as he squinted in a fair attempt to determine if his vision was drastically designed to be imperfect while simulating what it was to be like for the machine to experience old age.

"Your majesty, why are you not wearing your glasses?"

Zach bobbed his head up toward the Andronican.

"Ah, yes, that I do." Zach smiled. "It seems I have forgotten about them in my haste to begin this wild trip."

"But, your majesty, you rarely forget to have your glasses on you when you go traveling outside of Andronica."

"Protecting people that I care about always puts me in a rush." Zach said.

"Thankfully, I packed you a spare." The assistant unclipped the small packaging then handed it over to the elderly man.

Zach slipped open the case then slipped on the clunky glasses and his vision was clearer.

"Why thank you. . . What is your name again?"

"Laquion."

"Why thank you Laquion."

The assistant, Laquion, stared down toward Zach.

"You are not the good version, aren't you?" Laquion asked. 

Zach lifted his gaze up then lifted a brow toward Laquion.

"My experience is; anyone can be good or evil." Zach replied. "Sometimes to be good, you have to be bad."

The assistant smiled upon him.

"I won't give your secret away." Laquion said.

"My dear, if I had a secret then you would be involved if you knew it. Memories being put on display on trial implicating you on a defraud of Andronica, his royal majesty's credentials, and defamation of character." Zach lowered his gaze on to the tablet as he brushed through the physical paperwork on the table alongside him. "Might be taken to a prison ship for a long freezing or to Destructon for permanent residence."

The assistant tensed.

"Quite a problem for you."

Zach scanned the paperwork.

"And for you." Laquion said.

"Theoretically, if I were, I would be able to tolerate the landscape." The elderly king picked up the glass of tea then sipped from it. The cup was put back on to the table with care. "But, you would be worse for wear."

The next part came out quite calmly from the older man as the assistant stared down upon the elderly being.

"The backstabbing inmates with shivs, back breaking work -- exhausting work --- and the overbearing heat would eventually kill you."

"Theoretically." Laquion started. "If you are not human then what are you?"

"Anyone can be human." Zach said. "That is what I am and what I present myself, my dear assistant."

"The astronavigator like me to tell you that we will be at Destructon tomorrow morning at zero six hundred." Laquion replied.

"Very early, but no matter, that I will adapt with." He waved his hand and sipped from the cup of tea. "Thank you for your service."

Laquion departed from the royal office quite paled heading toward the meeting room of the royal assistant group. The group awaited in the lone chamber for Laquion all in at the table waiting for the reply of the assistant. The door closed behind the lone assistant as he waved his hand in front of the panel then shifted toward the crowd.

"If he were not the king then we would be liable in a court of law for going along with it." Laquion announced to the royal servant core. "And we would wither at Destructon."

"So he is the king." one of the servants replied.

Laquion nodded.

"And we have to entertain his idea of war for as long as we can." the leader of the movement added. "Until we can't."

"What do we do?" the head of the royal guard, Juven, replied.

"We go home and let him destroy the reputation of the monarchy when he has crossed the threshold of no return." Laquionn said.

"The idea is horrible." The chief of astronavigation said.

"This is my longest gig, if he is gone then so is my revenue." the chief of meals replied. "Who would hire a chef who knows how to cook off world non-Andronican meals?"

"A rich person from Tauron." one of the members snickered.

Everyone shifted their attention toward Laquion.

"Is that wise to abandon him?" the chief of astronavigator replied.

Laquion nodded.

"The king only needs the essential crew to this ship if we leave. He will have some moments getting readjusted to caring for himself but I feel that he can do it."

"He is old and slow, Laquion." the royal chief of engineering reminded. "He hasn't cooked in over forty years!"

"Being hungry makes people step up to the plate." Laquion said. "In the mean time, we must be united when we leave."

Juven stood up.

"My crew and I have a duty." Juven said. "We are essential and so are ALL of you. Count us out."

Juven walked away departing the chamber.


	14. Chapter 14

"What is wrong, your majesty?" Will asked during meal time late that night.

Zach sighed as he leaned back into the chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"I have to exit the united galactic civilizations pact if no one wishes to help me in this effort and isolating Andronicans is something I don't know if I can pull off without becoming upset in front of the officials, Professor." His elbows rested on the counter then leaned back and threw his hands into the air as he slumped in to it. "And infuriating the Andronicans."

Zach's figure trembled in the chair as the plate full of ham with sliced cheesy potato decorating it and a slice of pumpkin muffin-bread set alongside it.

"That is tough being in that position and having to do that." Will said. 

"Rebellion, revolution, coups could be started with the first treaty being ripped to pieces." Zach added. 

"I have read some of the species that you are allies with," Will replied. "I am sure they won't mind losing the Taurons."

"The Taurons represent authority, sanity, and a well structured government that is entirely non-corruptable that any Earthling can admire." Zach shook his head with a grimace. "I don't understand what is there to dislike."

"For starters, there is a extradition treaty between them for punishing immigrants for daring to travel to their home world without any papers and throw them into camps for months on end."

His eyes flashed open so widely, yet impressively, that it almost appeared that Zach had marbles for eyes. 

"They do---What!"

Will stared at Smith, his lips puckered, his eyes big in such a way that he looked caught.

"William, that wasn't in the file about the Taurons." Zach said. "Are you pulling my leg?"

Will whistled then took out another file and slid it on to the table toward the older man who caught it with one smack on the sandy themed folder.

"The file you read was sugar coated, your majesty." Will began to explain as Zach flipped open the folder, put on his big glasses, and set about to read. "They have a system of claiming property after a Andronican who did dealings with a Tauron bank---people included."

Zach's hands were trembling as he stared down in rage.

"What do they _do_ with them?" Zach shifted his gaze upon him as he took off his glasses. 

Will shrugged. 

"All it says is that they are property of the planet." Will flipped his hand over gesturing toward the window of the meal room. "Tauron is just as dirty as Earth American Government was. Very flawed underneath the surface."

Zach became still placing the folder on to the table.

"Then that makes it easier to end that alliance." Zach said.

Will winced.

"I wouldn't have been able to do that." Will said as Zach stabbed his fork into the meal and took a few bites listening to what the younger man had to say. "To make that decision that you did." Will shook his head. "I don't think my father would have done that when we were desperate and taken their help anyway."

Zach clasped his hands together.

"I admit, I am terribly afraid of what I am doing and the reputation of my civilization being tarnished in the politics of war _after_ the fact." Will and Zach grimaced at once. The consequence of every action would come back to haunt them after a victory that had been taken with difficulties, reluctance, and patience. But, the idea of having a future was enough to bring a smile to Will's face a second after the wince vanished from his lips. "Zach wouldn't be too happy to find what he has built being in ruins with no ounce of respect, dignity, or pride left, just a smouldering ash of ruin and mayhem and that destruction is irksome."

Will's brows rose at once.

"Is that all?"

Zach nodded.

"Yes."

"Give them a chance, Doctor Smith. You may not have to do it alone fighting against them."

"Do you think so?"

"I didn't expect you to come along."

Zach snickered at the man's comment.

"Point made. I see, you are unharmed. Got along with the others?"

"Very."

"Excellent."

"You're going to need to slow down and act your age."

"Act my age?"

"Walk slowly, the whole--" Will got up from the table. "I designed your body to be in tip top shape unharmed by age. . . but."

"Oh dear, this is going to harm my back doing this," Zach groaned, leaning back into the chair, his hand planted on his forehead. "Isn't it?"

"It will mimic the aching after doing it for so long." Will paced back and forth as a example then pause behind his seat and folded his arms. "I don't walk as fast as I used to."

"Arched, slow walking, and what else--- poor vision!"

"Ah. Yes."

"I suspected so."

"Doctor Smith, walk like a old man."

"Must I do this?"

"Yep. That's the only way you can sell it. It's a wonder why they haven't noticed already."

"Okay."

Zach got up from the seat then walked.

"Make it worse."

Zach proceeded to walk slow.

"Worse."

Slower, he walked.

"Is that your worse?"

"No." His gait changed. "Is that it?"

"It's perfect!"

"Good!"

"Arched, head lowered, like you're a chicken." Zach walked as instructed by Will. "And squint."

"I do not believe that Zach would do this sort of thing!" Zach whined about the arrangement.

"Without his glasses, he would." Will said with a short lived laugh as the elderly android's eyes loosened losing their squint appearance. "He is human and lived with growing old _all_ his life."

"It's simply not fair what age does to the human body." Zach folded his arms with a pout. "There is no dignity left!"

"It's how you live that makes life dignifying, Doctor Smith. Age has nothing to do with it." Will replied watching the elderly man rub his shoulder with his knees bent and brring in contrast to the younger man. "And?"

"Professor, why in the heavens did you make my body generate cold?" Zach rubbed his shoulders with a scowl looking up toward the younger man.

"I wanted Z-40 to have the complete human experience." Will shrugged with a grin as Zach sat back down at the table. "I did one kind of a good job."

"Too good of one!" Zach retorted.

"If you're going to get this done very well, you're going to have to refer to him by Zachary with me." Will reminded as the elderly man's aged blue eyes flashed open and his scowl deepened. "That way, you don't slip up."

"Now, we don't want those." Zach agreed, grimly.

"And I have to refer to you by your majesty instead of. . ." Will didn't finish that trail of thought. "I don't need to slip up, either. It's quite dangerous."

"Dangerous, indeed!" Zach said. "After this incident is over, I will need to switch places with him . . . if I live." 

"If we do make it out of it alive." Will chimed in. 

Zach nodded, gravely.

"And must make sure no one suspects a thing." Second by second that passed, the older man began to smile over the potential conclusion of his adventure. The smile faded as did the warmth and thoughts of glee at the hopeful moving video in his mind being welcomed back among the Robinsons as a member of the crew and allowed to return to Earth with them. "Zachary will put this under the rug as he sorts his new life out."

Will laughed as his figure shook then sipped from his cup and lowered it down.

"You're going to come back out of this in one piece, disheveled, wounded, dirty, wild hair, and some wounds." Will said.

"Want to bet on it that I will have all those markers in the following order should our mutual enemy surrender?" Zach asked with a grin.

"That is gambling!" Will exclaimed. "I am a man of many things, your majesty. But, I have nothing to bet with."

"This is war. " Zach reminded with a pointed glare. "War is gambling and war makes nothing into _something_."

Zach took a few bites of ham and so did Will from his plate.

"We did that a lot on the run." Will said. 

"Count this as the only time in your life where you will need to gamble as a active participant." Zach resumed on his train of thought. "Throwing your hand in the ring by coming with me has brought gambling into the fold." Zach's eyes failed to leave the plate as he chewed and swallowed between each comment while his friend was slowly eating. "Your father disapproved of it being brought into your childhood. . ."

"But now, it is necessary." Will said, quite fondly, beginning to smile as Zach lifted his attention on to him. "I have everything to lose and everything to offer."

"And everything to do what is necessary to protect." Zach said. "Are you really ready to return to Earth and see her cities in ruins, my dear Professor?"

Will faced the older man with a silent stare for a long moment.

"I miss Earth." Was all Will said and resumed eating.

 _So do I_ , went unspoken, _so do I, William._


End file.
